People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk along a pedestrian crossing Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, in Tokyo. (Photo: AP)
TOKYO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's number of daily COVID-19 cases stood at 22,045 on Friday, surpassing 20,000 for the first time since Sept. 1, according to data compiled from reports by prefectural governments.
The data also showed that it took only two days to reach the current level after surpassing 10,000 daily infections nationwide.
Tokyo logged 4,051 new cases on Friday, topping 4,000 for the first time since late August, while Osaka Prefecture reported 2,826 cases.
Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said that he is considering asking the central government to impose a quasi-state of emergency in the western prefecture if its occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, which stood at 21.5 percent as of Friday, reaches 35 percent.
Okinawa Prefecture marked 1,596 infections on Friday and has been under a quasi-state of emergency since last Sunday.
A quasi-emergency enables governors to request dining establishments to shorten business hours and stop serving alcohol.
