The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will keep city-operated schools closed through May 6 and ask wards and other cities in the metropolis to follow suit, a day after coronavirus infections in the capital hit a daily record of 78.

The metropolitan government had previously said it was planning to reopen at least some schools in the new academic year next week. Most of the nations' schools have been shut since the beginning of March, heeding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's request.