As the current global Covid wave appears to be weakening, Japan reported 489 Covid-related deaths on a single day on Thursday, a new high for a country grappling with the pandemic’s eighth wave.
Japan reported 185,472 new coronavirus cases, a decrease of 13,401 from the previous day. Tokyo reported 13,427 new cases, a decrease of 3,345 from the previous day.
“The number of coronavirus-related deaths reported nationwide was a record high 489,” Japan Today reports.
In Tokyo, the number of infected people hospitalised with severe symptoms was 49, a five-day decrease from Wednesday.
According to health officials, the nationwide figure was 697, up 32 from Wednesday.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths reported in Japan on January 7 reached a new high of 463 for a single day.
There were fears that the Covid infection and death rates would skyrocket during the New Year’s celebrations.
In December 2022, Japan recorded a record 7,688 Covid-related deaths, surpassing the previous monthly high of 7,329 recorded in August during the previous coronavirus wave.
The number of people killed by Covid-19 in Japan in the last three months is nearly 16 times higher than in the same period last year.
People in their 80s accounted for 40.8 percent of all deaths in the four-month period from August 31 to December 27 of last year.
