Amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases, Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki said Monday that he intends to request the central government to apply emergency-level priority measures against the novel coronavirus in Sapporo, the prefecture's capital city.
In comments to the media after meeting with Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto on Monday, Suzuki indicated that the official request could be lodged as soon as Wednesday.
On Sunday, a record 326 new infections were confirmed in Hokkaido, of which Sapporo accounted for 246 cases.
-- Tokyo logs 708 new cases
Tokyo confirmed 708 new COVID-19 cases on Monday.
The daily tally in the capital jumped 283 from last Monday's 425 cases, exceeding the figure from the same day of the previous week for a third consecutive day.
According to the metropolitan government, Monday's numbers brought Tokyo's seven-day moving average to 873.6, up 19.7% from last week's 730. The number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients came to 65, up two from the previous day.
Osaka Prefecture confirmed 847 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The daily figure fell below 1,000 for the first time since April 26, when 922 cases were found.
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