Feb 15 (NHK) - Data from Japan's health ministry show that a record 543,045 coronavirus patients were recuperating at home across the country as of last Wednesday.
The figure was up more than 108,000 from a week earlier, and hit a new high for the third straight week.
Tokyo had 81,368 such patients, followed by Kanagawa Prefecture with 63,105 and Osaka with 44,686.
The number of COVID-19 patients staying at hotels or other accommodations was 21,843 across Japan as of last Wednesday. That's down more than 500 from the previous week's figure.
The data show that of those who need to be hospitalized due to the coronavirus, 3,415 people were waiting to be admitted to hospitals as of last Wednesday. The figure was down by about 900 from a week earlier.