Photo/Illutration The Okinawa prefectural government building in Naha (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Okinawa prefectural officials on Jan. 10 confirmed 779 new COVID-19 cases, a drop from the recent alarming spike that saw the number hit a record 1,759 only two days before.

It was the first time since Jan. 7 that the daily tally in Okinawa did not exceed 1,000.

The U.S. military reported 391 new infection cases among its personnel on the island on Jan. 10.

It was the second highest for the military’s daily tally since Jan. 9, when it reported 429 new cases. It remains unknown which U.S. bases these new patients belong to.

Based on the prefectural data as of Jan. 9, the number of those newly infected with the virus per 100,000 people in the most recent week was 448.79, the highest in the nation.

The number rose to 492.49 as of Jan. 10.

The virus has spread among doctors and health care workers in the prefecture. As of Jan. 9, a total of 485 such people missed work. Those include people who were exposed to the virus.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds in the prefecture has been on the rise, forcing some health care organizations to limit their capacity of treating outpatients and taking in sick people.

Public health centers have failed to contact all the people in time who were deemed to have come into close contact with a patient who tested positive for the virus.

Public health center staff have prioritized investigations of infection clusters at health care organizations and nursing homes.

They have asked COVID-19 patients themselves to contact those who they came in close contact with, if possible, at the public health center’s discretion.

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