Out of 82 new cases, 68 were detected in Tokyo — the largest number of cases reported in the capital per day, according to the local authorities, cited by NHK.
Economic Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of the national response to COVID-19, has meanwhile said that declaring a state of emergency is not necessary at this stage, the broadcaster said.
1 March 2020, 06:32 GMT
On 27 March, the Tokyo metropolitan authorities set up a coronavirus task force. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, for her part, urged residents to stay home during the upcoming weekend, adding that otherwise, the capital may face the risk of "explosive rise" in the number of new cases.
On a global scale, according to the Johns Hopkins University count, over 669,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed and more than 31,000 people have died from COVID-19. At the same time, more than 145,000 people have fully recovered from the disease.
