Photo/Illutration People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk at a pedestrian crossing Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Tokyo reported 3,124 COVID-19 cases on Jan. 13, roughly five times higher than the 641 cases recorded last Thursday, metropolitan health officials said.

The latest figure exceeded 3,000 cases for the first time in about four months since the 3,097 confirmed on Sept. 2 last year during the fifth wave of infections.

The daily average of new cases over the week through Jan. 13 was 1,503.4, about seven times the preceding week’s average of 218.

Of the 3,124 new patients, the highest figure in the demographic breakdown was that of people in their 20s at 1,093. Following that, 616 patients were in their 30s, 413 were in their 40s and 310 were aged between 10 and 19, officials said.

Another 275 patients were in their 50s, 187 were under 10, and 158 were 65 or older.

The number of serious COVID-19 cases requiring a ventilator or ECMO heart-lung bypass machine was four, the same as the day before.

A woman in her 60s died from COVID-19, the only new related death reported, officials said.

Elsewhere, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said on Jan. 13 that his prefecture is expected to report about 2,400 new cases, up about 700 from the previous day’s 1,711.

The latest figure will top the 2,000 mark for the first time since the 2,011 cases logged on Sept. 8 last year.

Okinawa Prefecture confirmed 1,817 new cases on Jan. 13, excluding those on U.S. military facilities. The latest figure exceeds the 1,759 cases recorded on Jan. 8 and broke the record for daily cases.

The U.S. military reported 560 new cases tied to its bases, also a new record.

In the prefecture, the number of medical personnel who could not go to work stood at 628 as of Jan. 12. That number was only about 220 at the peak of the fifth wave in early September last year.

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