By RYUTARO ITO/ Staff Writer
July 30, 2024 at 15:01 JST
Novel coronaviruses seen under an electron microscope (Provided by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
FUKUOKA--Japan’s southwestern prefectures are leading the country’s 11th wave of novel coronavirus infections, with medical experts warning of a further surge.
The number of COVID-19 patients nationwide rose for 11 consecutive weeks through the July 15-21 period, according to health ministry statistics.
In the latest reporting week, five prefectures on the southwestern main island of Kyushu topped the list of those with the largest numbers of patients per medical institution.
Saga reported 31.08 patients, followed by 29.72 in Miyazaki, 27.38 in Kagoshima, 27.13 in Kumamoto and 24.02 in Oita.
The nationwide average was 13.62 patients per medical institution.
Nagasaki and Fukuoka, the two other prefectures in Kyushu, had 23.13 and 19.44, respectively, and the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa reported 22.06 patients.
Unlike seasonal influenza, the novel coronavirus has spread not only in winter but also in summer every year.
Michio Ueno, honorary director of the Fukuoka-Higashi Medical Center who specializes in infectious diseases, said infections have substantially increased in Kyushu in recent weeks, perhaps because summer arrives earlier than in the rest of Japan.
During the summer months, people tend to stay in air-conditioned rooms and take off face masks.
Last year, too, many prefectures in Kyushu reported larger numbers of patients than other parts of Japan when infections started to increase around late July.
“We can say the trend is the same as last summer,” said Takeshi Inamitsu, managing director of the Fukuoka Prefecture Medical Association, where he is in charge of infectious diseases.
Last year, the number of COVID-19 cases peaked between Aug. 28 and Sept. 3. In 2022 and 2021, the largest numbers were reported in the latter two-thirds of August.
If the 11th wave follows the same pattern as in past years, the number of patients will rise further in the coming weeks.
Other infectious diseases, such as streptococcal pharyngitis and hand-foot-and-mouth disease, are spreading in Kyushu and elsewhere.
Medical experts are urging people to wash their hands, wear face masks and ventilate rooms as part of basic anti-infection measures.
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