Tokyo confirmed 22 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the daily total exceeded 20 for the first time in five days, local media reported.
The figure comes as the capital had apparently been looking to lift its Tokyo Alert, a warning issued when the number of infections is rising, and further ease business-suspension requests later in the day.
Keeping the weekly average of daily cases under 20 is one of Tokyo’s own criteria for relaxing such restrictions. As of Thursday, the weekly average was 17.8.
Other criteria include keeping the proportion of cases with an untraceable origin to below half and a smaller number of new cases compared to the previous week.