Photo/Illutration A man, wearing a face mask, walks past a cherry blossom in Tokyo on March 23. (AP Photo)

Tokyo reported 8,875 new COVID-19 cases on March 24, up 414 from the previous Thursday and representing the first week-on-week rise since March 3.

Still, the daily average of new cases over the week through March 24 in the capital was 6,352.0, or 77.9 percent of the average for the preceding week.

Tokyo metropolitan government officials also reported 16 deaths of COVID-19 patients in their 50s or older.

Of the 8,875 new cases, 186 were diagnosed as being infected with the novel coronavirus without being tested.

Children aged 9 or younger represented the largest age group of new patients, at 1,686, followed by 1,560 in their 40s, 1,546 in their 30s, 1,476 in their 20s, and 1,313 between 10 and 19.

Additionally, 340 people aged 65 or older tested positive.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in Tokyo was 28.7 percent, while 15.2 percent of hospital beds for severely ill patients were filled, the officials said.

The metropolitan government said it would consider asking the central government to issue a state of emergency for Tokyo if the occupancy rate of beds for seriously ill patients was between 30 and 40 percent.

The Tokyo metropolitan government defines seriously ill patients as those requiring ventilators or ECMO heart-lung bypass machines.

Their number dropped by three from March 23 to 41.

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