THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 19, 2022 at 19:23 JST
Most pedestrians in this shopping street in Tokyo’s Taito Ward are seen wearing masks on May 16. (Kaho Matsuda)
Tokyo confirmed 4,172 new COVID-19 cases on May 19, down 44 from a week ago, marking the sixth straight day of a week-on-week decline.
The deaths of one patient in her 20s and four others in their 70s to 90s were also reported in the capital.
The daily average of new cases over the week through May 19 in Tokyo was 3,689, or 93.4 percent of the average for the preceding week.
People in their 20s represented the largest age group of the new patients, at 860, followed by 815 in their 30s, 629 under 10, 624 in their 40s, 537 between 10 and 19, and 361 in their 50s.
Additionally, 262 people aged 65 or older tested positive.
The occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in Tokyo was 15.9 percent, while 2.2 percent of hospital beds for severely ill patients were filled, officials said.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said it would consider asking the central government to issue a state of emergency for the capital if the occupancy rate of beds for seriously ill patients rose to between 30 and 40 percent.
The metropolitan government defines seriously ill patients as those requiring ventilators or ECMO heart-lung bypass machines.
Their number rose by one from the previous day to two on May 19.
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