Tokyo confirmed 28,112 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, up by more than 10,000 cases from a week before, as the nation continues to see a surge in daily cases amid the seventh wave of infections.
The finding comes after Japan's daily COVID-19 cases topped 200,000 for the first time on Saturday, marking the fourth straight day of a record count. Tokyo alone counted over 30,000 cases for three straight days through Saturday.
The seven-day average of new cases in Tokyo came to 24,542.6 compared to 15,292.9 a week before. The number of serious cases remained the same as Saturday at 14, while two new deaths were reported in the capital on Sunday.
Despite the unprecedented numbers in large parts of the country, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said his government is not considering imposing restrictions on people's movement as a way to stem infections.
But Ken Osaka, a professor of public health at Tohoku University's graduate school, warned that pressure on the medical system is already being felt. "We are entering a period where full measures must be taken to reduce the number of infected people."
With hospital beds filling in prefectures across the country, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported a rapid rise in ambulances struggling to quickly find hospitals to dispatch patients to. Seriously ill COVID-19 patients are also increasing, with Saturday seeing a 12-person rise to 203 nationwide, the health ministry said.
From Saturday, medical staff and elderly care workers in Tokyo also began receiving their fourth COVID-19 vaccinations after the government expanded its eligibility criteria in response to the current wave of infections.
Some medical institutions in the capital have been forced to limit the number of emergency patients they accept and scale back surgical procedures they conduct due to staff shortages caused by a spate of coronavirus infections.