Japan confirms 474 new COVID-19 cases, experts warn of resurgence
Xinhua
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TOKYO, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan on Thursday confirmed 474 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country's cumulative total to 80,592, not including infections related to a cruise ship quarantined in Yokohama near Tokyo earlier in the year.

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A man walks with a mascot promoting awareness over the COVID-19 coronavirus along a street in Tokyo on September 14, 2020. (Photo: AFP)

A group of experts on virus prevention advising the health ministry said Thursday that while the nation had seen new infections mark a downward trajectory of late, with cases in the seven days through Sept. 22 totaling 3,287, dropping from 3,731 recorded in the previous week, Japan could see a resurgence in infections.

They pointed out that the reproduction number in Japan (R0 or R-number), also known as the R value, which measures the average number of people that one infected person will pass on a virus to, has risen to one.

The experts said that infections had shown a resurgence since the beginning of September in a number of prefectures in Japan including Miyagi, Gunma and Tokyo's neighboring prefecture of Chiba.

They added that in Kyoto and Osaka, rising cases were indicative of a resurgence of the virus.

As for Tokyo, the experts said the declining trend of new cases had "bottomed out."

Health experts are waiting to determine whether Japan's four-day weekend recently, which saw increased travel across prefectures and more group-oriented recreation, such as drinking parties and dining out, may have affected the increase in cases.

They noted that while the number of patients requiring hospitalization and designated as "severely ill" has been declining since late last month, the pace of decline has been markedly slow.

"We need to keep an eye on when the impact of the movement of people during the holidays will come out," Takaji Wakita, director general of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases who heads the advisory group for the health ministry, was quoted as saying.

Of the new cases Thursday, the Tokyo metropolitan government reported 195 new cases with 39 of them comprising employees from a food processing plant in the city's Edogawa Ward, where a cluster of infections has been confirmed.

Tokyo's cumulative total, the highest among Japan's 47 prefectures, reached 24,648, the city reported Thursday.

Nationwide, outbreaks have also been reported at construction sites, food processing factories and barbecue parks, officials have said.

Osaka Prefecture, Japan's second hardest-hit region by the virus, confirmed 66 new cases Thursday, bringing its total caseload to 10,271 infections.

Tokyo's neighboring prefecture of Kanagawa, meanwhile, confirmed 58 new infections, to total 6,508 cases.

Japan's death toll from the virus stands at a total of 1,550 people, according to the latest figures released Thursday evening.