Japan's daily COVID-19 cases top 100,000 for the third straight day

Over 105,500 new daily COVID-19 cases were reported in Japan on Sunday, topping 100,000 mark for the third straight day, the Kyodo News reported.

Japan is facing a seventh COVID-19 wave. The government's COVID-19 panel of experts urged the public to exercise maximum vigilance on Thursday, according to NHK.

The surge is partly driven by the highly transmissible BA.5, a subvariant of Omicron. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday the COVID-19 cases rose rapidly in all 47 prefectures.

But the government currently has no plans to impose a state of emergency, quasi-emergency or other measures designed to discourage normal activities.

The Kyodo News said Japan is walking a tightrope between no COVID-19 restrictions and risk of straining the health systems.

Hironori Sagara, director of Showa University Hospital in Tokyo, told the Kyodo News that hospital bed vacancies may not be able to keep pace if the number of serious cases continues to increase. The number of severe cases reached 129 as of Sunday.

The number of daily infections in Japan had been declining since February 3, but has rebounded since late June.

（CGTN）