Society

Rise in serious cases in Tokyo, Osaka

Aug 19 (NHK) - Health officials in Japan are dealing with an increase in coronavirus infections. They're calling for vigilance as the number of seriously ill patients is on the rise.

Tokyo has the most new cases among Japan's 47 prefectures with 207 infections confirmed on Tuesday. In addition, 31 patients are now listed in serious condition. It's the first time the figure has topped 30 since May.

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko said, "We will step up measures to prevent senior citizens from getting infected as they are more likely to develop serious symptoms."

In the western prefecture of Osaka, the situation is even worse. The current number of seriously ill patients is more than double Tokyo's figure at 70.

Tokyo Medical University Professor Hamada Atsuo said, "The number of seriously ill patients is likely to increase. So we need to make sure that we don't lower our guard anytime soon."

Across the country about 900 new coronavirus cases were reported on Tuesday.

This brings the national total to over 58,000 with more than 1,100 deaths.

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