Tokyo's daily COVID-19 cases surged to a record 1,337 on Thursday, the metropolitan government said, as the nationwide tally eclipsed 4,000 for the first time.
The nationwide figure was at 4,515 as of 7 p.m. Thursday, public broadcaster NHK reported, with single-day records set in Fukuoka, Saitama and Chiba prefectures.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has warned that holiday shopping is apparently leading to bigger crowds, and repeated her plea for residents to stay home during the holidays.