Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said the metropolitan government has secured about 1,000 beds as of Sunday.

While 817 patients were hospitalized in Tokyo as of Saturday evening, Koike, speaking online, said patients with mild symptoms will be transferred to a metropolitan government-arranged hotel from Tuesday so that hospitals can accommodate those with more serious symptoms.

Concerns have been mounting over whether authorities could actually keep up the pace of the procurement of beds given the sharp increase in the number of infections.

( Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks to reporters at the metropolitan government building in Tokyo on April 5, 2020.)

For the second straight weekend, many people in Japan refrained from going out after local authorities asked residents to stay at home except for essential reasons, such as shopping for daily necessities and going to hospitals.

The number of temporarily closed stores and restaurants apparently increased from last weekend.

Besides Tokyo, where a surge in new cases has made the capital the worst-hit area in the country, stay-at-home requests have also been issued by prefectures including Osaka, Fukui, Fukuoka, Miyagi and Ibaraki.

(A pachinko pinball game parlor is closed in Tokyo's Shinjuku area.)

Officials have said the numbers of young patients and those with no clear infection routes are increasing.

The officials are urging people to avoid going out at night as a series of cluster infections have been confirmed in the entertainment and amusement districts.

They are also urging the public to avoid closed, crowded places and close-contact settings where there is a greater risk of infection.