The number of people in Japan recovering at home from the coronavirus has topped 500,000 for the first time as the recent surge in infections driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant continued to put strain on the health care system across the country.

Authorities have been requesting those with milder symptoms to recover at home as concerns grow that hospitals will run out of beds for COVID-19 patients at a time when Japan's booster shot program is still in the earlier stages.

Photo shows a support center set up by the Tokyo metropolitan government for coronavirus patients recovering at home. (Kyodo)

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said the number of people recovering from COVID-19 at home totaled 543,045 as of last Wednesday, increasing by 100,000 from a week earlier.

Japan confirmed 60,142 new cases on Monday, with Tokyo reporting 10,334 new cases, 1,877 less than the week before.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID patients was above 50 percent as of last Wednesday in 20 prefectures across Japan including Tokyo, with the western prefecture of Osaka topping the list with 81 percent of beds in use.

But Osaka on Monday put off a decision on whether to ask the central government to declare a COVID-19 state of emergency for the prefecture following a slight decline in the number of new coronavirus cases.

Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura said more time is needed before he decides whether to seek the declaration, saying, "I would like to assess the situation a little longer."

He also said whether to extend the quasi-state of emergency currently in place is up to the central government.

The weekly count of new coronavirus cases in the prefecture had been increasing since mid-December, but it turned to a slight decline last week, according to the Osaka government. As for the daily count, the prefecture reported 7,997 new cases on Monday, down from 9,008 a week ago.

Still, its occupancy rate of hospital beds secured for serious COVID-19 patients stood at 36.3 percent as of Sunday, near the 40 percent threshold for the prefecture to request a state of emergency declaration.

The Japanese government's top COVID adviser, Shigeru Omi, said last week the speed of infection spread in the country is slowing but the number of new coronavirus cases may stay high or decline only mildly.

People wearing masks for protection against the coronavirus walk in Osaka's Minami area on Jan. 29, 2022. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Earlier in the day, the top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, said the central government will decide whether to extend 21 prefectures' quasi-emergency expiring on Sunday based on the level of strain on medical systems and expert opinions.

But Matsuno said the government will be cautious about issuing a state of emergency for Osaka, saying "a careful consideration is needed" about imposing stronger restrictions.

Currently, 36 of Japan's 47 prefectures are under a quasi-state of emergency, under which governors can ask restaurants and bars to shorten business hours and stop or limit the serving of alcohol.

The measure for Osaka and 20 other prefectures including neighboring Kyoto and Hyogo as well as Hokkaido is scheduled to end on Sunday.

Okinawa Prefecture is not expected to seek an extension of the measure, deeming infections in the southernmost island prefecture have already peaked.

The quasi-state of emergency has already been extended to March 6 for 13 prefectures, including Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, while Kochi Prefecture newly came under the measure from Saturday.