COVID-19 cases exceed 10,000 in Japan

People wearing masks walk on the street in Nagoya, Japan, April 17, 2020. (Kyodo News/Handout via Xinhua)

As Japan enters the first weekend after a state of emergency was expanded nationwide, the number of COVID-19 infections has exceeded 10,000.

TOKYO, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's health ministry and local governments said the number of COVID-19 infections nationwide had risen to 10,098 cases as of Saturday afternoon, as the country enters the first weekend since a state of emergency was expanded nationwide in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.

After the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Japan, the number of infected people increased to over 5,000 in three months on April 9. However, the number of cases doubled in just nine days.

Photo taken on April 18, 2020 shows an empty street in Kyoto, Japan. (Kyodo News/Handout via Xinhua)

Meanwhile, Tokyo confirmed 181 new cases of COVID-19 as of Saturday afternoon, local media reported, pushing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 2,975 in the Japanese capital.

As the number and pace of cases continue to increase, the government has expanded the state of emergency over COVID-19 to cover all 47 of the nation's prefectures.

A man wearing mask walks on the street in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 2020. (Kyodo News/Handout via Xinhua)

The move came as central and local governments are concerned that the upcoming Golden Week string of national holidays beginning at the end of this month could see throngs of people return to their hometowns or take vacations in other parts of Japan, and in doing so spread the pneumonia-carrying virus even further across the archipelago.