The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 1,359 daily coronavirus cases Friday amid public concern that infections could hit record highs during the Olympics, which opened in the capital the same day.

The latest figure represents an increase of 88 from Friday last week, bringing the seven-day rolling average of cases to 1,386 per day, up 46.5 percent from the previous week. Tokyo is currently under a fourth COVID-19 state of emergency until Aug. 22.

While the number was down from the 1,979 cases reported the previous day, the highest since mid-January, a metropolitan government official attributed the decrease to many medical institutions being closed for a four-day holiday, meant to coincide with the opening of the games.

"It does not mean the spread of infections has stopped, and we will be closely watching the situation after the holidays," the official said.

The number of hospitalized patients increased by 14 from the previous day to 2,558, and those experiencing severe symptoms rose by three to 68.

The Olympics are widely feared to become a superspreader event with particular concern about the transmission of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.

Health experts advising the metropolitan government have warned of a possible "critical" coronavirus situation in Tokyo if the virus continues to spread at the current pace.

They estimated that daily infections in the capital could hit a record of around 2,600 in early August during the Olympics, which will close on Aug. 8.

Tokyo marked its current record of 2,520 daily infections on Jan. 7.