Photo/Illutration Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, second from right, attends a June 23 meeting of a panel monitoring COVID-19 cases in the capital. (Provided by Tokyo metropolitan government)

For the first time in five weeks, Tokyo reported an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases over the previous week.

A report submitted at a June 23 meeting of a panel monitoring infection trends in the capital found the daily average over one week was 1,698, a 10 percent increase over the previous week.

Other documents showed that from mid-May the daily average fell in comparison to the previous week, but that from June the level of that decrease gradually shrank, leading to the first increase in five weeks.

Experts said the trend over the next few weeks would have to be observed before concluding if a rebound in new infections was occurring.

Meanwhile, metropolitan government officials reported 2,413 fresh COVID-19 cases on June 23, an increase of 594 from the previous Thursday and the sixth consecutive day for the daily tally to exceed the week-earlier level.