On the 13th, a pedestrian wearing a mask to prevent the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) passes in front of a public notice board warning about the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant on the streets of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Japan's daily new COVID-19 cases have reached a record high for the second consecutive day.
According to NHK's tally on the 19th, as of 6:15 p.m., the total number of new COVID-19 cases across Japan was 41,485.
This is the first time that daily COVID-19 cases in Japan have surpassed 40,000.
Recently, with the spread of the Omicron variant gaining momentum in Japan, the number of new cases has increased significantly.
After rising to 13,243 cases on the 12th, surpassing 10,000, the number exceeded 20,000 to reach 20,241 on the 14th, just two days later, and the previous day recorded 32,195 cases, marking the first time over 30,000.
The Japanese government decided on the same day to implement the "Priority Measures to Prevent Spread" (hereafter referred to as Priority Measures), a COVID-19 emergency prevention measure, in 13 prefectures including Tokyo from the 21st of this month until the 13th of next month.
Accordingly, the areas subject to the Priority Measures will expand to 16 locations, which is more than one-third of the 47 prefectures (metropolitan governments), including the existing three prefectures such as Okinawa Prefecture.
The Priority Measures are a step before a state of emergency and include restrictions such as shortened business hours for restaurants to reduce population movement.
In Tokyo, the Priority Measures will be applied for the first time in four months since September last year. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a COVID-19 task force meeting on the same day and decided to limit restaurant business hours to 9 p.m. and alcohol serving hours to 8 p.m.
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