Osaka and Aichi prefectures recorded all-time highs in new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, reporting 155 and 110, respectively.
Tokyo confirmed 266 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with the daily figure topping 100 for 20 straight days.
Osaka and Aichi have joined Tokyo in logging daily cases over 100.
Osaka Prefecture's task force on the coronavirus on Tuesday decided to request its citizens refrain from having drinks in a group of five or more from Aug. 1 to 20.
Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said a pivotal moment in a second wave had arrived and asked citizens — especially younger people — to avoid unnecessary outings since infections are spreading mainly in busy districts of Nagoya.
Across the nation, several other prefectures reported the following daily figures:
- Kyoto Prefecture reported a record 31 cases.
- Kanagawa Prefecture logged 33 cases.
- Chiba Prefecture logged 23 cases, with two deaths.
- Saitama Prefecture reported 40 cases.
- Fukuoka Prefecture announced 38 cases.
In Tokyo, the recent spike has prompted a surge in patients at hospitals. As of Monday, 1,260 people were hospitalized, a more than fivefold increase since the beginning of the month. But the pace of increase of critically ill patients who need artificial respiration is slower, apparently because many recent confirmed infections are people in their 20s and 30s who tend to have mild symptoms.
The number of seriously ill patients in the capital has fluctuated between 5 and 21 in this month. The figure was 19 on Monday. Tokyo's cumulative total reached 11,611.