Japan’s COVID-19 death toll tops 10,000 as 3rd state of emergency in effect

TOKYO -Japan’s COVID-19 death toll topped the 10,000-mark on Monday, a day after a third state of emergency was declared in Tokyo and the western prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo.
One year after Japan confirmed its first COVID-19 case, the nationwide death toll from the virus stood at 5,000, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Infectious disease experts warned that Japan is now battling a “fourth wave” of infections including highly-contagious variants of the virus.
The complete lifting of the second state of emergency in April saw the mortality rate begin to rise after being on a downtrend, health ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, according to data cited by Kyodo News, the COVID-19 mortality rate increases with age, with 13.9 percent of those in their 80s and above dying, followed by 5.2 percent of those in their 70s, and 1.5 percent in their 60s.
With more than 3,300 new infections reported nationwide on Monday, 900 of which in the hard-hit western prefecture of Osaka, the government is trying to curb the spread of the virus by encouraging people to work from home.
But according to NHK, mobile phone data has shown around 40 percent more people were around Tokyo station during rush hours on Monday morning, compared with the Monday average during the first state of emergency declared around a year ago.
In the capital city of Tokyo, 425 new cases were confirmed on Monday, down from the 635 cases reported Sunday.
However, on Saturday, the country’s new cases over the past 24 hours surged to 876, marking the highest number of daily infections since the second state of emergency was lifted in late March.
Japan has been criticized for its slow vaccination rollout, with the first inoculations of 4.8 million health care workers beginning in February. Only 18 percent of them had received their second Pfizer jab as of last Friday. (Xinhua)