The Japanese government on Thursday decided on a policy to allow each prefectural government to declare stepped-up coronavirus measures, amid growing concerns about the possible arrival of the eighth infection wave.
Japan’s health ministry also decided at a meeting to revise the current five-scale alert of infection status to a four-scale one. A level similar to the seventh wave or higher will be rated as Level 3, which means infections continue to expand.
The country logged 78,268 new infections nationwide on the same day, up more than 10,000 from a week ago, with 84 new fatalities among COVID-19 patients.
Tokyo confirmed 7,969 daily cases, with Hokkaido reporting 8,457 and Kanagawa Prefecture 5,190.
According to the health ministry, Hokkaido, the northernmost main island, saw the highest rise among the 47 prefectures with 850 cases per 100,000 people in the most recent week, adding that in areas with colder weather, infections could spread faster due to the difficulty in implementing ventilation.
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