Delta Variant: Tokyo Sets New Record For Coronavirus Cases In Midst Of 2020 Olympics | 5,042 infections in one day

While housing the olympic games 2020, Tokyo reported 5,042 coronavirus cases in one day on Thursday. This is a record figure since the start of the pandemic and comes amid an increase in infections, caused by the Delta variant.

Across Japan, authorities have recorded more than 14,000 cases in the past 24 hours. In total, these amounted to about 970,000, of which about a quarter – over 236,000 – correspond to Phone.

Tokyo and the Okinawa region have been in a state of emergency since mid-July. The measure preventing spectators from attending the Olympics was extended this week to four other regions and lasted until August 31. However, the restrictions – the ban on serving alcohol in restaurants and bars coupled with reduced opening hours – they are increasingly ignored by the public.

“We must remedy the situation because we now have a greater urgency.”Prime Minister Yosihide Suga told the media, referring to the new record of more than 5,000 cases in Tokyo.

“Infections are spreading at a rate we have never experienced before”, he warned. Suga clarified that so far there was no evidence linking the increase in infections to the sporting event. The Japanese official was one of those who pushed the most for the country to host the Olympics.

The measures put in place in Japan

Despite the summer vacation the prime minister again urged people to comply with emergency measures and stay at home.

Alarmed by the rate of spread, some experts have called for the expansion of the emergency state governing Tokyo and five other regions of the country.

Suga, on the contrary, announced this Thursday a softer version emergency measures in eight prefectures, including Fukushima in the east and Kumamoto in the south, which now have restrictions on 13 regions.

The less stringent measures in place for these eight additional prefectures allow their authorities to apply them to specific cities, but they cannot order businesses to close. Suga also promised to “Prevent the spread of the virus by doubling the vaccination rate”.

Experts advising the Tokyo Metropolitan Government have warned that infections caused by the Delta variant have become “explosive” and could exceed 10,000 per day in two weeks.

What is the coronavirus situation in Japan

Japan has managed to keep its Covid cases and deaths lower than much of the world

But testing is still insufficient and Tokyo’s positivity rate is 20%, indicating widespread infections.

In Tokyo, more than 14,000 patients with mild symptoms are currently in isolation at home, more than ten times more than a month ago, and another 8,400 are waiting for beds in hospitals or special hotels.

As hospital beds start to fill up, the Suga government has introduced this week a new policy in which coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms will be isolated at home rather than in hospital, an attempt to save hospital beds almost exclusively for critically ill Covid-19 patients.

Opposition lawmakers criticized Suga for not increasing the hospital’s capacity enough despite warnings about the rapidly spreading Delta variant. Treatment for the coronavirus in Japan is limited to public and university hospitals with adequate facilities and expertise.