Tokyo reported 8,026 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, seeing a week-on-week increase for the fourth consecutive day as health experts have warned of another wave of infections.
The number, down 76 from the day before but up 127 from the week earlier, is still far smaller than the some 21,000 registered in early February at the pandemic's peak in the Japanese capital. However, the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron strain has spread rapidly in many parts of the country.
Some infectious disease experts have said Japan, where the cumulative total of coronavirus cases topped 7 million on Saturday, is entering its seventh wave of infections, with government officials struggling to raise the rate of booster shots as it is especially low among younger people.
On Sunday, 49,172 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide, as prefectures with big populations, such as Kanagawa and Osaka, confirmed 4,098 and 3,652 infections, respectively.
The signs of a resurgence emerged after Japan lifted all COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency curbs, including asking restaurants and bars to close early and stop serving alcohol in late March.
While 84 percent of people aged 65 and older have received their third shots, the figure overall was only around 44 percent of Japan's population as of Friday, according to government data.
On Sunday, Japan, known for its strict border controls since the early days of the pandemic, raised the daily cap on overseas arrivals to 10,000 from the previous 7,000.
But those to be allowed entry into the country are mostly businesspeople, students, and returning Japanese nationals and foreign residents -- not tourists.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday at a press conference that presently, Japan does not have plans for resuming tourist arrivals.
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