Japan Covid News — As the Omicron strain rapidly spreads, the number of confirmed daily coronavirus infections in Japan surpassed 25,000 on Saturday for the first time since August 26.
Local governments contributed the final tally, which stood at 25,742. Osaka and Okinawa confirmed 3,692 and 1,829 infections, respectively, as their prefectures’ all-time high. To date, nearly a thousand instances have been reported in Hiroshima.
The highest day total in Japan was 25,992 on August 20 of last year, when the country was reeling from the worst of the fifth wave of infections following the closure of the Tokyo Olympics.
Two years ago Saturday, Japan announced its first COVID-19 case. With more than 1.8 million cases, the mortality toll stands at more than 18,000.
Japan Covid News: Rising on the Daily
According to Japan Covid news, the daily count has increased by roughly 50-fold in the past two weeks. Tokyo recorded 4,561 new cases for the second straight day, surpassing 4,000, while the first Omicron fatality was reported in Japan.
On Tuesday, an older man in Shizuoka died after contracting the highly contagious mutation discovered through a genomic scan.
According to the city authority, the individual had significant underlying health issues and had received two doses of the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer Inc.
According to some research in Japan Covid news, Omicron, which has been making headlines since it was first detected in South Africa in November, may have a shorter incubation period and produce less severe sickness than prior variants of the virus.
The quarantine period for visitors and returnees from all countries and territories outside Japan has been cut to ten days from the current fourteen as of Saturday in light of these findings.
Close contacts of the new variety in the general public had their quarantine reduced from 14 days to 10 days due to the decision.
Furthermore, the central government has advised local authorities to shorten an important worker’s isolation term on their judgments to six days at the earliest.
Medical professionals point out that the Omicron strain continues to infect people and result in deaths.
Omicron Hits Waves in Japan Covid News
According to Mie prefecture governor Katsuyuki Ichimi and Japan Covid news, who spoke to reporters on Saturday, authorities would soon be seeking a “quasi-state of emergency,” which empowers leaders to take stricter measures like requiring restaurants in the prefecture to limit their business hours.
For the first time in more than four months, the number of daily coronavirus cases reported in Japan surpassed 13,000 on Wednesday, as a sixth wave of the pandemic sparked by the Omicron type spreads across the country.
At 13,244, the total number of cases in Japan was 2,198, the first time in more than four months; the total exceeded 2,000.
It has only taken eight days for the number of verified cases to rise from over 1,000 on January 4 to over 10,000 today, based on Japan Covid news. There was a five-fold increase in the number of cases recorded by the metropolitan administration from the previous week.
There were 1,711 new illnesses in Osaka Prefecture on the same day, a first since September 15 and about sevenfold more than the previous week’s total.
Okinawa, the southernmost island prefecture, reported 1,644 cases, while Yamaguchi, the westernmost region, saw an all-time high of 182 new infections.
Since Sunday, a quasi-emergency has been declared in Okinawa, Yamaguchi, and the nearby prefecture of Hiroshima, with dining places being asked to reduce their operating hours and stop serving alcohol.
The governors of Okinawa, Yamaguchi, and the three surrounding prefectures believe the outbreak was sparked by the transmission of COVID-19 from U.S. military sites in Okinawa and Yamaguchi, based on Japan Covid news.
It had been hovering around the hundreds since September when the pandemic’s fifth wave came to an end, but cases began to rise at the end of the year when the Omicron strain emerged.
As of March, those under the age of 65 will be able to have their second and third COVID-19 vaccine doses in just seven months, sources familiar with the subject said Wednesday.
After a six-month delay for health care professionals and the elderly in nursing homes, senior persons will be able to obtain their booster injections in February after a seven-month delay. Yet in a press conference on Wednesday, Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said: “It has already become impossible to inhibit the Omicron variety by booster shots” since the virus spreads faster than before.
Japan Covid News Today
The central government has revised its policy from hospitalizing everyone infected with the Omicron version to just hospitalizing those in danger of developing severe symptoms to avoid overburdening the medical infrastructure.
According to the health ministry’s announcement on Wednesday, about 16,000 medical facilities across the country have agreed to work together to provide home visits and monitoring for patients recovering at home.
Additionally, Japan has increased its medical capacity by 30% since the country was hit the worst by the fifth pandemic wave, allowing it to now accommodate 37,000 patients in hospitals.
