Photo/Illutration The streets of the restaurant district around Shinbashi Station in Tokyo are practically deserted on Jan. 21. (Naoko Kawamura)

Tokyo confirmed 16,538 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Jan. 27, smashing the previous record for the third straight day.

Osaka recorded 9,711 new cases the same day, its second highest number yet after marking a record figure the day before.

Hyogo logged its highest number of fresh cases at 4,303.

In Hokkaido, prefectural authorities were expected to report a record-breaking figure for the second day in a row. Prefectural authorities in the northernmost main island confirmed 2,091 cases on Jan. 26.

Fukuoka was expected to confirm more than 3,900 new cases on Jan. 27, which would be its highest yet.

The tally in Tokyo was about 1.9 times the 8,638 cases set on Thursday of last week.

Officials said the count sent the daily average of new cases in the capital for the week through Jan. 27 to 11,762.0, about 2.2 times the number for the preceding week at 5,386.1.

The bed occupancy rate in the capital stood at 44.4 percent as of Jan. 27. The metropolitan government has said previously it will consider asking the central government to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo if the rate reaches 50 percent.



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