Photo/Illutration A Chiba prefectural government official briefs reporters Jan. 1 about two cases of the novel coronavirus that suggest a community spread of the Omicron variant. (Kazuhiro Fujitani)

Japan marked the new year with 535 fresh cases of COVID-19 nationwide, the first time for the daily count to top 500 for three days in a row since October.

The last time the nationwide daily count exceeded 500 for three consecutive days was Oct. 16.

Tokyo on Jan. 1 logged 79 new cases, the fourth consecutive day for its daily count to surpass 50 and 41 more than the figure for the previous Saturday.

The highly contagious Omicron variant appears to be taking hold beyond metropolises, public health authorities said.

On Jan. 1, Chiba Prefecture announced its first case of apparent community infection, while Fukushima Prefecture reported that a man returning from overseas had proved positive for the Omicron variant.

Chiba prefectural authorities said two women in their 20s were infected with the Omicron variant but that their routes of transmission remained unknown.

The patients had no contact with each other and have no history of having traveled overseas recently.

The infections brought the total of Omicron cases in the prefecture to five.

In Fukushima Prefecture, a man in his 30s who returned to Japan last month tested positive for the Omicron variant, the first such case in the prefecture.

He remains hospitalized in the prefecture, but is not displaying any symptoms, according to prefectural officials.

After returning to Japan on Dec. 22, he was placed in quarantine at a facility in the prefecture as another traveler who took the same flight was confirmed to have the Omicron variant.

The man in Fukushima Prefecture tested positive for the virus on Dec. 29 and his infection with Omicron was confirmed on Jan. 1.

Prefectural officials said it was unlikely the variant had spread in the prefecture as the man’s quarantine began soon after his return to Japan.

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