Photo/Illutration Takaji Wakita, head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases who chairs an expert panel on COVID-19, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Oct. 20. (Kai Ichino)

A panel of health experts delivered some grim news about the novel coronavirus situation in Japan.

The daily average number of new infections over the seven days through Oct. 19 across the nation was up 1.35 times from the figure for the previous week, the panel advising the health ministry on COVID-19 measures said at a meeting on Oct. 20.

It was the first increase in eight weeks.

Forty-six of the nation’s 47 prefectures reported higher numbers of COVID-19 cases, with the exception being Okinawa Prefecture.

In the previous week, no prefecture had a week-on-week increase in new cases.

In the latest seven-day period, Wakayama Prefecture had the steepest rise in new infections, at 1.75 times the number from a week earlier.

Hokkaido and Kagawa Prefecture tied for second, both with numbers that were 1.6 times greater, followed by 1.56 times in Yamagata Prefecture.

Tokyo’s cases were up 1.25 times from the previous week, while Osaka Prefecture’s figure increased by 1.40 times.

The panel, however, did not go so far as to say that Japan was entering its eighth wave of infections.

“We need to determine whether this is a true upward trend,” Takaji Wakita, the head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases who chairs the panel, said.

He noted that the increase in domestic travel and the rising number of foreign tourists entering Japan, as well as colder temperatures and weakened immunity from previous infections or vaccines could have affected the figures.

In the meeting, the experts said COVID-19 cases are rising in Europe with the approach of winter, when the coronavirus spreads more.

According to the World Health Organization, the number of new cases in Britain increased by about 2.4 times from around 28,000 over a week in early September to around 66,000 over seven days in early October.

In the same period, Germany’s new cases jumped by about 2.9 times from around 203,000 to 585,000, while France’s numbers soared by about 3.4 times from around 113,000 to 384,000.

Concerns are rising about new variants.

In Japan, the BA.5 Omicron subvariant remains the dominant strain in new infections.

However, other Omicron subvariants are emerging overseas.

In Britain, strains other than BA.5 now account for nearly 40 percent of new cases, including the BE.1.1 subvariant that is causing 18 percent of the infections, the panel said.

In the United States, the BA.4.6 subvariant is spreading and now accounts for 12 percent of new cases, according to the panel.

It is unclear if these subvariants are more infectious, but there is a possibility that current vaccines are less effective against them.

Japan could be hit by simultaneous outbreaks of the novel coronavirus and seasonal influenza this winter. But the experts said they have not seen signs of this yet.

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