Japan's severe COVID-19 patients hits record of 2,000

TOKYO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan's number of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms on Thursday rose to a record of 2,000, reaching a new record for the 15th consecutive day, the health ministry said Friday.

The number of such patients, which includes those who are being treated in intensive care units or are using ventilators, increased by 26 from the previous day. Japan has been battling an alarming rise in daily COVID-19 infections driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.

Japan confirmed more than 24,000 new infections across the country on Friday. According to prefectural governments, Tokyo reported 4,227, Osaka recorded 2,814, Kanagawa logged 2,662, and Aichi marked a record 2,347.

The Japanese government the same day put another eight prefectures, which include Hokkaido, Miyagi, Gifu, Aichi, Mie, Shiga, Okayama, and Hiroshima, under its latest COVID-19 state of emergency. So far, 21 of Japan's 47 prefectures are now under the state of emergency.

The measure that will last until Sept. 12 affects more than 75 percent of the population.

Under the state of emergency, restaurants are asked not to serve alcohol or provide karaoke service, and are instructed to close by 8:00 p.m. local time. Major commercial facilities like department stores are asked to limit the number of customers allowed in at the same time.

Since the anti-COVID-19 measures rely on voluntary public cooperation, some prefectural governors have called for stricter lockdown measures, which would require a new legal framework.