The health ministry reported 22,288 new COVID-19 cases for the week to Aug. 17, marking the ninth consecutive seven-day period of increase.
This translates into an average of 6.3 cases of the novel coronavirus per designated medical institution.
The average for the previous week was 6.13. In 2024 during the same period, the figure reached 8.5.
By prefecture, Miyazaki had the highest average of 14.74, followed by Kagoshima with 12.63. Both prefectures are in Kyushu.
Other prefectures with high averages were Saitama at 11.52, Ibaraki at 10.87 and Akita at 10.71.
Among major urban prefectures, the average was 3.61 in Tokyo, 10.25 in Aichi, 3.38 in Osaka and 7.01 in Fukuoka.
COVID-19 infections tend to increase in summer and winter.
The average peaked at 14.58 in late July 2024 before decreasing. But the number of new cases again began increasing between December 2024 and January.
The average again decreased and in May fell under 1.
According to the Japan Institute for Health Security genome surveillance, 28 percent of the new cases in July were of the Nimbus strain that spread in many parts of the world earlier this year.
The World Health Organization has designated Nimbus as a “variant under monitoring,” but there are no reports that it leads to more serious symptoms than other variants.
(This article was written by Shuichi Doi and Chisato Matsumoto.)
AloJapan.com