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New COVID-19 cases in Tokyo fall below 300 for first time in five days

Mar 15, 2021 (Japan Times) - Tokyo reported 239 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, falling below 300 for the first time in five days.

Sunday’s figure compares with 237 cases reported a week earlier. Officials have expressed concerns that the number of new cases have stopped falling as the government mulls whether to lift the current state of emergency on March 21, as scheduled.

Of Sunday’s new cases in the capital, 46 were people in their 20s, 37 were in their 30s and 36 were in their 40s. Those age 65 or older totaled 57 cases.

The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients under the metropolitan government’s criteria rose by one from the previous day to 41. The cumulative number of cases in the capital is now 115,409

The results came after 7,516 tests were conducted Thursday. It usually takes about three days for test results to affect the daily case count.

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