People cross a street in Tokyo's Ginza district on Friday. Photo: AP/Eugene Hoshiko
national

Tokyo reports 698 new coronavirus cases; 1,043 in Osaka

35 Comments

The Tokyo metropolitan government on Friday reported 698 new coronavirus cases, down 329 from Thursday. The number is the result of 10,943 tests conducted on Wednesday.

Osaka topped the nation again with 1,043 cases.

In Tokyo, people in their 20s (218 cases), their 40s (130) and their 30s (110) accounted for the highest numbers, while 71 cases were aged 60 and over. Also, 86 were aged 19 or younger.

The number of infected people hospitalized with severe symptoms in Tokyo is 65, up seven from Thursday, health officials said. The nationwide figure is 978, up 27 from Thursday.

Nationwide, the number of reported cases was 4,637. After Osaka and Tokyo, the prefectures with the most cases were Hyogo (333), Fukuoka (305), Aichi (290), Kanagawa (240), Chiba (192), Hokkaido (187), Saitama (146), Kyoto (126), Hiroshima (86), Nara (79), Gunma (77), Okayama (74), Okinawa (59), Oita (55), Mie (52), Fukushima (49), Ibaraki (45) and Shiga (41).

The number of coronavirus-related deaths reported nationwide as of 6:30 p.m. was 36.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

35 Comments
Login to comment

Happy Golden Week, Folks. Get ready for these figures to keep falling so we're all nice and safe to welcome Bach when he turns up for a nice five-star junket into Fantasy Land.

39 ( +41 / -2 )

OMG, amazing how it dropped. We are well on our way to having a fabulous Olympics. Bach should be proud.

32 ( +35 / -3 )

The big drop is coming earlier than expected.

18 ( +21 / -3 )

Make believe all of it , see how the olympics cured corona ............the thought of bach coming has worked miracles everyone, here is proof !

24 ( +25 / -1 )

Doley,

There is no logic or thinking involved in anything bureaucrats do.

we are in Disneyland here, entertainment for the masses by the “ elite” must be continuous.

of course numbers must come down and are manipulated. But it is very difficult to make the numbers just acceptable.

by Mid next week they will be claiming success for the great creative measures

22 ( +23 / -1 )

@ Above

What a bunch of fearmongering melodramatic people !

Lighten up enjoy life and stop worrying so much !

-28 ( +4 / -32 )

big drop when you don't test as many people. If you know the postive cases you should know the number of tests, yet they always lag behind posting that, which is really strange

14 ( +14 / -0 )

Great job Tokyo! This trend should see us down close to zero at the end of Golden Week.

12 ( +14 / -2 )

All will be good. Just prepare for the 2nd best Olympics ever, after '64.

I am looking forward to the end of Wave 4, just in time for Bach's visit.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

VERY happy to see this decrease. as i stated. we peaked. state of emergency regulations are working!

-20 ( +4 / -24 )

Fantasy land - that’s it perhaps the numbers were sprinkled with fairy dust. Dan those @above just want the truth and to see action not empty words from Jgov

10 ( +10 / -0 )

for japan daily corona cases is not representative. To take a test very difficult. Companies allowing since a few day a corona test holiday day. Otherwise 95% of Japanese would hesitate to take a holiday for testing. And the hospitals don’t make test as much as possible.

maybe the intensive stations occupancy rate could be a representative indicator?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

759 last Friday.

Down 61 from last Friday despite the 1027 yesterday and reported increased mobility of people. This is not only unlikely, it is impossible. Removal and reduction of test sites to make the numbers appear lower?

Shame on you LDP. I hope a reckoning comes.

18 ( +18 / -0 )

Golden week = Golden reduction

13 ( +13 / -0 )

Testing numbers for Tokyo please! I’m guessing Osaka testing numbers are out of the question but Tokyo numbers would be nice since you actually used to print them everyday but stopped mysteriously when numbers started raising again. It’s also pretty useful to see how many tests have been done during GW each day considering after Sunday you will must likely be printing stories of how the SOE is working and numbers are miraculously dropping.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Significant drop the very next day the State if Emergency starts, as predicted.

And some still hilariously believe the numbers in Tokyo/Japan.

Go see for yourself the Tokyo numbers declining free fall after the 7th of January when the last State of Emergency was declared.

Back then the measure was just to request restaurants to close at 8PM. But we, that live here saw with our own eyes that nothing changed in daily life, trains packed, restaurants packed and bars alike.

Same story. Wonder if Olympic Committees from other countries don’t have embassies that provide information regarding the real situation in Japan to make them pull out from the event??

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Wow! So many posts through rose colored glasses. Today there is a decrease. Next week it will increase by hundreds after the golden week exodus.

Reality check: Nearly 700 is still way too many.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Would it be cynical of me to assume that the 698 new cases is based on a total of 700 tests???

9 ( +10 / -1 )

@JapanBliss

The number of tests conducted is in the first sentence.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

Yesterday was a national holiday so the figures drop today. It's the same as the few Sunday tests = low figures on Monday phenomenon that we've been seeing for the last 18 months.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@Robert Hancock

In Tokyo, the numbers reported are from tests conducted 3 days before - so we don't know the numbers for the national holiday yet. But you're right that they will probably be lower due to lack of testing.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I don't know why so many people want to know the number of tests each day. I gave up being interested in that a long time ago. Whether it is 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 tested each day makes no difference to me. I long ago assumed the numbers of infections are high and that many of us may even be asymptomatic. All we can is take the proper precautions.

At this stage, the number of tests is not important. The number of deaths due to coronavirus and the number of people hospitalized with severe symptoms are more important.

But most of all, the vaccination program is of paramount importance. That is what I am most concerned about and that is what I would like more information on.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I felt terrible today. A coworker was confirmed with covid last week, but I had no direct contact. I dont want to self isolate over my only holiday so ill postpone my doctor visit until May 7th.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

knowing amount of infected would be interesting to say the least. We have very low deaths and hospitalised people considering the hype. Deaths and Severe cases are what count and they are low. Covid is not as dangerous as made out, well not in its current form anyway.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

ZarathustraToday 06:54 pm JST

@Robert Hancock

In Tokyo, the numbers reported are from tests conducted 3 days before - so we don't know the numbers for the national holiday yet

Forget about the 3 days. This is just for the records and reporting. Most positive results come within 24 hr and are announced. That's why it is always lower on Monday as Robert said.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

"OMG, amazing how it dropped. "

LOL, the JT posters only believe the numbers when they are going up, if they are going down, then the numbers are bogus.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

LOL, the JT posters only believe the numbers when they are going up, if they are going down, then the numbers are bogus.

Actually, it's mostly because with a virus of this nature, that kind of sudden drop a day later makes no sense, is illogical and unlikely, and is far more likely indicative of a severe lack of testing on that day more than anything else.

That, and most of us know after the endless "rinse and repeat" of this ridiculous process for the past year and a half, that too many foolish people will see that drop in numbers and suddenly believe in magic. "The half-hearted SOE worked and it's safe to go out and not bother social-distancing again. Yay! Let's celebrate at the bar!"

For those of us who have been careful to "gaman" from the beginning, it is exhausting and seemingly endless because of these magic-believers.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Public communication, safety awareness are key to reducing the virus . . . .

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I don't know why so many people want to know the number of tests each day. I gave up being interested in that a long time ago. Whether it is 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 tested each day makes no difference to me.

I hear what you're saying, but I would be absolutely thrilled to see Tokyo test 100,000 people in a day!

At the virus's peak here in Melbourne, when there were similar case numbers to what Tokyo is supposedly reporting now, the city was doing 40,000-50,000 tests a day! And that's with a population about 1/4 the size.

I was surprised in the beginning about how Japan bungled the coronavirus situation, now I'm just angry.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

The number is the result of 10,943 tests conducted on Wednesday.

Wait, why was today’s number based on tests conducted Wednesday (the 28th) when Japan Today reported that yesterday’s number was based on tests conducted April 26 (Monday)? Moderator, what happened to Tuesday’s tests???

9 ( +9 / -0 )

@knittyelf

They just forgot to report Tuesday's.

You know it's only about covid, a topic so far from the Olympic games.

So don't worry, be happy.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites