The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Thursday it had confirmed 48 new novel coronavirus infections, marking more than 40 cases daily for the second straight day.
The capital continues to record high numbers of cases, with Tokyo having logged 55 new infections on Wednesday. That figure was the highest since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ended a state of emergency in late May, raising concerns about a second wave of infections.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has said the city would relax stay-at-home and business closure requests providing the weekly average of daily cases remained below 20, if untraceable cases accounted for less than half of those infections and if the number of new infections in a week had decreased from the week prior.
As of Wednesday, the weekly average of daily new cases stood at 37.9 with untraceable cases comprising 45.7 percent, while the total number of weekly cases had increased by 27 percent.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government had previously said it would consider reissuing business closure requests if the weekly average of new cases exceeded 50, more than half were untraceable and new cases had doubled in the span of a week.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)
Your news needs your support
Since the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, The Japan Times has been providing free access to crucial news on the impact of the novel coronavirus as well as practical information about how to cope with the pandemic. Please consider subscribing today so we can continue offering you up-to-date, in-depth news about Japan.