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Japan
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Coronavirus: Japan’s daily Covid-19 cases surpass 200,000 for first time due to new Omicron variants

  • The 200,975 cases marked the fourth straight day of a record count during the seventh wave of coronavirus infections in the country
  • Outbreak comes as medical staff and elderly care workers in Tokyo began receiving their fourth Covid-19 vaccinations after criteria was expanded

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People wear face masks for protection against the coronavirus walk on a pedestrian crossing in Tokyo. Japan set a national record of more than 200,000 coronavirus cases on Saturday. Photo: Kyodo
Kyodo

Japan’s daily Covid-19 cases topped 200,000 for the first time, according to a tally of new cases reported on Saturday, marking the fourth straight day of a record count during the seventh wave of coronavirus infections.

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Tokyo logged 32,698 new cases, exceeding the 30,000 mark for a third consecutive day and up more than 13,000 from the previous Saturday.

The government said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno tested positive for the virus the same day. But Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other senior members of the prime minister’s office are not among his close contacts.

The national daily tally came to 200,975 patients, roughly double the peak of the sixth wave, which hit around 104,000 on February 3. The latest surge is driven by the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.5.

Record daily cases were reported in 17 of the country’s 47 prefectures, including Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa.

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Despite the unprecedented numbers in large parts of the country, Kishida has said his government is not considering movement controls as a way to stem infections.

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