Tokyo confirmed 4,562 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, seeing a week-on-week increase for the fifth consecutive day as health experts warn of another wave of infections.
The daily tally, up by about 180 from a week before, is still far smaller than the nearly 21,000 cases registered in early February at the pandemic's peak in the capital. However, the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant of the omicron strain has spread rapidly in many parts of the country.
The seven-day average of new cases in Tokyo came to 7,596.4, compared with 7,607.4 a week earlier.
The number of severe cases in Tokyo fell by one from Sunday to 28, while two deaths were reported on Monday.
Some infectious disease experts have said Japan, where the cumulative total of coronavirus cases topped 7 million on Saturday, is entering its seventh wave of infections, with government officials struggling to raise the rate of booster shots as it is especially low among younger people.
On Sunday, 49,172 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide, up by 1,839 from a week before, as prefectures with big populations, such as Kanagawa and Osaka, confirmed 4,098 and 3,652 infections, respectively.