Experts warn Japan's COVID-19 in ‘disaster-level situation’

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Japan on Friday reported the highest number of cases since the COVID-19 outbreak, with health experts warning that the country is in a “disaster-level situation.”

According to government data, the country reported more than 20,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday, for the first time since the pandemic began, public broadcaster NHK reported.

“Japan is now in a disaster-level situation,” said Ozaki Haruo, president of the Tokyo Medical Association. “We are no longer in a phase where it is thought that the disease only affects those who go out and about at night.”

Tokyo reported more than 5,700 infections, the highest ever number of cases in the capital, the report said. Also, the number of critically ill patients in the capital rose to 227, putting additional strain on the health care system.

The increase in infections coincided with the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics last week.

Amid concerns over the rising number of cases, the local authorities in Tokyo have urged residents “not to travel to other prefectures... and stay home as much as possible.”

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko said, “We are now facing the biggest crisis since the pandemic began, which amounts to a disaster. We want to ask everyone to act to protect their own lives.”

Japan also reported its first Lambda Variant case, involving a woman in her 30s who was associated with the Tokyo Olympics.

She had traveled to Peru “where the variant seen as possibly more contagious and more resistant to vaccines was first detected,” Kyodo News reported.

Until Thursday night, Japan had reported 1,087,779 cases including 15,358 COVID-19 deaths, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.