Japan: Tokyo sees record virus spike on New Year's Eve

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Japan’s capital Tokyo on Thursday reported a record spike in the coronavirus cases despite several measures in place to stem the spread of the deadly infections.

The capital reported over 1,300 daily coronavirus cases for the first time since the outbreak, provincial Governor Yuriko Koike said.

Tokyo has been reporting around 1,000 cases for the past few days, NHK News reported. Tokyo is the worst-hit city in the country with nearly 60,000 cases.

The country has reported nearly 229,000 cases of the COVID-19, including 3,349 deaths. Over 4.4 million people have undergone tests.

The railway operators in Tokyo metropolitan also announced to stop running trains all night on New Year's Eve to stem the spread of infection due to rush of commuters.

Authorities in Tokyo and its three surrounding provinces had asked railway operators not to provide all-night services, NHK News reported.

In her appeal to people to follow measures against the coronavirus, Koike on Wednesday called on people to “please emphasize life over fun” on New Year’s Eve.

Koike warned the virus situation in Tokyo is “severe and could explode in the coming days.”

Nishimura Yasutoshi, Japan’s minister in charge for the coronavirus response, said the government could “consider declaring a state of emergency if the virus continued to spread further.”

Yasutoshi, who is also economic revitalization minister, said: “Infections must be stopped at any cost.” He urged people to “spend the year-end and New Year holidays only with their families.”