Photo/Illutration A panel of experts advising the health ministry about the novel coronavirus pandemic meets in Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki district on April 20. (Kayoko Geji)

Although the overall number of new COVID-19 cases in Japan has dropped, health experts warned the public to keep their guards up.

The national daily average over the week until April 19 was down 0.9 percent from the figure for the preceding week, the first decline in about a month, according to data presented at a meeting of an expert panel advising the health ministry.

The case figures either declined or remained flat for all age groups.

Novel coronavirus infections have been spreading unevenly around Japan in recent weeks.

New COVID-19 cases have risen in 12 of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Tottori Prefecture, for example, saw infections increase by 1.34 times week on week, while the number was up 1.17 times in Saga Prefecture, 1.14 times in Yamagata Prefecture, and 1.12 times in both Shimane and Nagasaki prefectures.

In contrast, three metropolitan areas recorded drops in new cases. Tokyo’s daily count was down by 16 percent, Osaka Prefecture by 13 percent and Aichi Prefecture by 11 percent.

Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) who chairs the panel, said differing progress rates in administering booster shots could be behind the continued disparity in infections between the rural and urban regions.

In other positive news, the occupancy rate for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients has not risen sharply, according to data from the Cabinet Secretariat.

Although Okinawa Prefecture posted a Japan-leading 50-percent rate as of April 19, the ratio has gradually declined in the past few days in the southern island prefecture.

The bed occupancy rate remained relatively high in the Kyushu region, with Kagoshima Prefecture at 37 percent and Saga Prefecture at 33 percent.

But the occupancy rates were under 40 percent in other regions, including 25 percent in Tokyo, 28 percent in Osaka Prefecture, and 27 percent in Aichi Prefecture.

However, the panel on April 20 warned that protective measures should be enforced more vigorously because more people are now gathering together and going out at night.

Panel members said the trend is particularly concerning, given that the Golden Week holidays start late this month.

The number of new cases in the current sixth wave since early January has reached higher levels than during the fifth wave of infections.

The highly transmissible “stealth” Omicron BA.2 subvariant is now believed responsible for about 80 percent of new cases, according to the health experts.

Night-time crowds at major entertainment districts are growing across the nation, except for the northern part of the Kanto region.

Health minister Shigeyuki Goto urged the public to rigorously take basic precautions to fend off the virus.

“They should continue wearing masks, regularly wash their hands, avoid crowded venues and ensure there is good ventilation inside buildings, in addition to refraining from making any high-risk movements,” he said.

Regarding Golden Week, Wakita said people should be cautious about meeting people they usually do not encounter in their daily lives, noting that such meetings fueled the spread of the virus in past infection waves.

“People should not go out or travel if they have mild fevers or feel unwell, even slightly, and should undergo testing or see a doctor instead,” he said. “They should be extra careful about meeting elderly people.”

(This article was written by Kayoko Geji and Hayato Murai.)

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