Photo/Illutration A man wearing a mask looks at secondhand books at a used book fair set up near a train station in Tokyo on March 24. (AP Photo)

Tokyo reported 7,289 new COVID-19 cases on March 25, down 536 from the previous Friday, marking the first week-on-week drop in two days.

The daily average of new cases over the week through March 25 in the capital was 6,275.4, or 77.8 percent of the average for the preceding week.

Tokyo metropolitan government officials also reported 11 deaths of COVID-19 patients in their 40s or older.

Of the 7,289 new cases, 126 were diagnosed as being infected with the novel coronavirus without being tested.

People in their 30s totaled the largest age group of new patients, at 1,333, followed by 1,308 patients aged 9 or younger, 1,271 in their 20s, 1,260 in their 40s, and 1,079 between 10 and 19.

Additionally, 330 people aged 65 or older tested positive.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in Tokyo was 27.8 percent, while 14.4 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 24 to 38.

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