Japan reported Friday more than 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus in one day for the first time since early February, fanning concerns of a rebound less than a week after a state of emergency was lifted in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures, Kyodo reported. It marks the first time the daily tally has exceeded 2,000 since Feb. 6, the day before the state of emergency was extended for another month over 10 prefectures. Tokyo reported 376 new cases, topping 300 for the fourth straight day, while new infections in Osaka Prefecture on Friday broke the 300 mark for the first time since Jan. 30. In northeastern Japan, Miyagi Prefecture, which has currently declared its own state of emergency, confirmed over 150 new cases for the third straight day. Neighboring Yamagata Prefecture reported 34 cases after logging a record high of 49 the previous day. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a one-month emergency in the Tokyo region on Jan. 7, later expanding it to a total of 11 prefectures and extending it for most of them to March 7. It was further extended by two weeks to last Sunday for Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures. Nationwide on Friday, the number of infected people with severe symptoms edged down by two from Thursday to 323, according to the Health Ministry. The total number of fatalities among infected people rose by 33 to 9,017, with 15 new deaths reported in Tokyo and five in neighboring Saitama Prefecture. — Agencies
