Japan's daily coronavirus cases below 1,000, 1st since Nov.

TOKYO, Feb. 16 Kyodo - A total of 965 daily coronavirus infections were reported in Japan on Monday, coming in below the 1,000 mark for the first time in three months, while the number of deaths related to COVID-19 topped 7,000, a Kyodo News tally showed. The daily cases across the nation's 47 prefectures were the lowest since Nov. 16. They include 266 new infections in Tokyo, remaining below the 500 level for the ninth straight day. The central government has declared a state of emergency in the capital and some other areas, calling for people to refrain from unnecessary outings and for restaurants and bars to close early. The nationwide death toll kept increasing at a relatively fast pace after it rose above 5,000 on Jan. 23 and exceeded 6,000 on Feb. 3. The Tokyo metropolitan government also said it underreported daily infections by a total of 838 between Nov. 18 and Jan. 31 due to errors in entering data at health centers, affected by surging coronavirus cases. The capital had previously reported the biggest daily increase of 2,447 cases on Jan. 7. But with the correction, the figure was raised to 2,520. ==Kyodo