Photo/Illutration The Tokyo metropolitan government building complex in the capital's Shinjuku district (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Tokyo reported 12,696 fresh COVID-19 cases on July 18, nearly double the 6,231 cases reported the previous Monday.

That marked the 31st consecutive day of an increase compared with the same day of the previous week.

Meanwhile, neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture confirmed a record high of 9,445 new cases the same day. The previous daily record in the prefecture was 9,096 on Feb. 5.

In Osaka Prefecture, officials reported 4,859 new cases on July 18, also almost doubling the 2,514 cases posted last Monday.

In Tokyo, metropolitan health officials also announced one related death involving a woman in her 80s.

The daily average of new cases over the week through July 18 in Tokyo was 16,216.4, or 2.01 times more than the preceding week.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in the capital was 38.5 percent, while 10 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 reached between 30 and 40 percent.

The metropolitan government defines seriously ill patients as those requiring ventilators or ECMO lung bypass machines. The number of seriously ill patients in the capital was 15 on July 18, up two from the previous day.

People in their 20s represented the largest age group of the new COVID-19 patients at 2,377, followed by 2,006 between ages 10 and 19, 1,955 in their 30s and 1,949 in their 40s.

Additionally, 1,015 people aged 65 or older tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

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