TOKYO, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan reported 41,485 COVID-19 cases nationwide and 15 death cases on Wednesday, surpassing the previous record just a day earlier of 32,195 and logging a new all-time high for the second consecutive day, according to an NHK tally based on data from local governments.
The Tokyo metropolitan government confirmed 7,377 new infections, breaking the record of 5,908 cases in August last year. Daily count in the capital increased by 5,179 cases from last Wednesday, a growth of over three times.
The latest average of new infections in the weekly period stood at 4,598.4 per day, quadrupling from the previous week, according to the metropolitan government. It was its first time to top 4,000 cases since Aug. 28, 2021.
Of Wednesday's new cases in Tokyo, nearly 70 percent were confirmed among people in their 30s or younger.
Over 40 percent of the daily cases, or 3,408 people, have finished two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The figure of severely ill COVID-19 patients under the metropolitan government's criteria rose by three to 10 from the previous day.
The capital's government reported two new cases of COVID-19 related death. One man in his 70s and one in his 50s were confirmed dead after being infected with the virus.
Western Osaka prefecture reported 6,101 daily infections on Wednesday, the first time to top 6,000.
"This has been a fight against an unknown virus, but we hope to overcome this situation by preparing sufficiently without fearing excessively," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a meeting of the government's COVID-19 task force.
Earlier on Wednesday, the central government declared a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency for Tokyo and 12 other prefectures, including Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and Aichi, where restaurants and bars will be asked to close early and stop or limit the serving of alcohol.
The new anti-virus measures will mean that about a third of the nation's 47 prefectures are subject to stricter curbs. ■