Omicron Lurks Behind Rising Infections in Tokyo, New Cases Most Since October

January 03, 2022, 05.40 PM | Source: Reuters

ILUSTRASI. People cross the street in the Ginza shopping area, on the first day of Japan's closed borders to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant. REUTERS/Androniki Christodoulou

COVID-19 - TOKYO. The fast spreading Omicron variant lurked behind rising coronavirus infections in Tokyo, where new cases rose to 103 on Monday, up from 84 the previous day and the highest since Oct. 8.

Governor Yuriko Koike said Tokyo had 25 cases of Omicron, of which 11 were possibly transmitted within the community, Kyodo News reported.

Japan is bracing for rising infection numbers due to people travelling for the New Year's holidays.

In Okinawa, where tourists flock to popular beach resorts, new daily coronavirus infections rose to 130 on Monday, the highest since Sept. 25, Kyodo said. As of Monday, Okinawa had registered a total 88 cases of the Omicron variant, it said.

Omicron is also spreading in other prefectures. Kanagawa, a prefecture neighboring Tokyo, confirmed one case on Monday, according to Kyodo. Hiroshima in western Japan confirmed 12 new cases, bring its total cases to 14, the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper reported.