On Thursday, 3,865 new cases of infection were registered in Tokyo, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic and 700 more than on Wednesday, which then recorded a record number.
The Japanese government will now propose that the declared emergency in the capital be extended until August 31, says Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister responsible for covid management in the country.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to make the formal announcement later on Friday.
Low vaccination rate
Thursday also meant that Japan as a whole for the first time passed 10,000 positive cases in one day, and the government wants to extend the emergency also in Okinawa, the country's southernmost prefecture.
In addition, emergencies are proposed in four more prefectures, three around Tokyo and in Osaka.
Japan has managed the pandemic comparatively well with around 15,000 deaths, but is now fighting to keep the more contagious delta variant under control, while less than 30 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
220 OS cases
Health Minister Norihisa Tamura is also concerned that more Japanese are starting to take the recommendations more lightly.
- I think that many have a hard time seeing long-term, They worry about how long this will last and feel that it is becoming unbearable not to be able to return to a normal life, says Tamura.
At the same time, 27 new corona cases were reported on Friday in connection with the Olympics.
Three of them were athletes.
A total of 220 people connected to the Olympics have tested positive since July 1, but both Prime Minister Suga and the organizers reject that the games would have any connection to the increase in the number of infected in the country.
MORE COVID: Jeng about infected Kendricks missing the Olympics (yesterday):
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SVT Sports expert Alhaji Jeng about Sam Kendricks missing the Olympics.
Photo: SVT