TOKYO: Japan's daily Covid-19 cases rose to a record high on Thursday when the country recorded more than 180,000 new infections.
According to a Kyodo News tally on new infections, all-time high numbers were reported in 35 of the country's 47 prefectures amid the nation's seventh wave of infections.
The news agency said a record number of cases were reported in Tokyo and other prefectures including Osaka and Fukuoka as the BA.5 Omicron subvariant spread throughout the country.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said there were a record 31,878 cases in the capital city, topping 30,000 for the first time.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said the city was ramping up its medical system and urged residents to get booster shots and take other preventive measures.
A record 22,047 cases were confirmed in Osaka Prefecture in western Japan while the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka reported 10,752 cases.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there was a need to monitor the country's medical system but ruled out the possibility of imposing movement restrictions.
Health minister Shigeyuki Goto said the surge in cases could increase the number of patients with severe symptoms and affect the health care system as it may cause group infections in facilities with high-risk people, such as hospitals and nursing homes.
Kyodo News said that despite the surge in Covid-19 cases nationwide, the government had reiterated it had no plans to reimpose movement restrictions.
It said that during the health ministry's Covid-19 advisory panel meeting on Thursday, there were calls for such to place prefectures seeing a rapid spread of infections, under a state of emergency.
There are also concerns that the seventh wave could affect tourism and restaurant sectors, which are gearing up for the summer season.
Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun reports that more than half of the hospital beds reserved for Covid-19 patients in five prefectures were already filled as of Tuesday.
Wakayama Prefecture in central Japan reported that 59 per cent of its beds were filled, while Okinawa Prefecture reports that 74 per cent of its hospital beds were occupied.
Osaka's hospital bed usage was at 20 per cent on July 10, but doubled to 40.6 per cent on Wednesday.
The Shimbun report said many hospitals were struggling with chronic staff shortages, and there have been cases of doctors and nurses becoming infected with Covid-19. Some hospitals were also forced to shut down certain departments, including emergency care.
It said that in Okinawa, more than 900 medical staff could not report to work on Wednesday as they were either confirmed infected or were in close contact.