Japan's daily COVID cases near 80,000, record high for 3rd day

Japan's daily count of new COVID-19 cases neared 80,000 Thursday to hit a record high for the third consecutive day, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues its rapid spread in Tokyo and elsewhere. The nationwide tally on Thursday reached 78,920 as 27 of Japan's 47 prefectures logged record daily high figures, with Tokyo confirming 16,538 coronavirus cases the same day. The number of cases in the capital eclipsed the previous record high of 14,086 logged on Wednesday and is predicted to rise to around 24,000 after a week if the current pace of increase continues. Japan has expanded this week a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency to 34 of its 47 prefectures. Its daily count of new COVID-19 cases topped 70,000 for the first time on Wednesday. Since mid-January, the country has been seeing a rise in the number of infections and deaths, with a total of 47 people confirmed dead as of Thursday, up from single-digit deaths reported earlier this month. Patients with severe symptoms reached 537 on Thursday, up 67 from the previous day, raising concern over a possible shortage of hospital beds that would increase strain on the country's medical system. In line with a surge in cases driven by Omicron that has caused a shortage of antigen test kits, health minister Shigeyuki Goto said the government will for now prioritize providing such kits to facilities such as hospitals to use for people with symptoms. A study by researchers at Japanese and U.S. institutes has shown that some antibody medicines including Ronapreve may not be effective against the highly mutated Omicron variant. ==Kyodo