The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Tuesday confirmed 170 additional cases of the novel coronavirus, a day after recording 100. The single-day figure brought Tokyo’s cumulative total to 20,987 cases.
The capital hit a record 472 on Aug. 1 and has seen daily cases in triple digits for every day last month except for Aug. 24, when it recorded 95 new infections, its lowest figure in over a month.
The Tokyo government said there were 29 active serious cases as of Tuesday.
The daily figures from the metropolitan government reflect the most recent totals reported by health authorities and medical institutions.
Tokyo, with a population of 14 million, has kept its alert for the coronavirus pandemic at the highest of four levels, meaning “infections are spreading.”
In an effort to stem the spread, Gov. Yuriko Koike said last month that Tokyo will extend until Sept. 15 a request for establishments serving alcohol and karaoke venues in its 23 wards, in the heart of the capital, to shorten their business hours as many cases have spread from there.
On Monday, Tokyo confirmed a monthly record 8,126 new cases for August, exceeding the 6,466 infections logged in July.
But Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister in charge of the coronavirus response, said the situation is calming down overall.
Nishimura pointed out that the number of new infections has dropped from levels in early August, and that the rate of positive patients among test takers is also on a declining trend.
"We will monitor the situation closely to see if this trend is certain," he said.