Speaking at a Monday press conference regarding new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus in August, Economic Revitalization Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said the nation has "started to see a downward trend." His statement aligned with the assertion by an advisory body of experts to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry that the spread of infections since June "appears to have peaked at the end of July," but the number of serious cases remains high, and experts have stressed the importance of continuing to take measures to prevent infection.
The advisory body said Aug. 24 that "a gradual decline has been seen since July 27-29," based on researchers' analysis of the number of new infections across the country by date of onset. The downward trend may be partly due to tests conducted by local governments in places where infection was likely to spread, such as restaurants and bars where employees serve customers in close contact. Other factors may include reduced hours of operation by restaurants and bars at the request of local governments, and pervasive social distancing.
The number of new infections from Aug. 23 to 29 averaged 777, about 20% less than the previous week's average of 979.
According to the Cabinet Secretariat's data, the so-called "effective reproduction number," which indicates how many people are effectively infected by a single case of infection, had also dropped to less than one as of Aug. 3, in Tokyo and the prefectures of Osaka, Aichi and Okinawa, where many infections have been reported.
A number below one is considered to indicate that the situation is moving toward containment. However, the number was close to one in those prefectures, which means that the current situation is being maintained there and that the number of new infections is not likely to decrease immediately.
The chair of the ministry's advisory body, Takaji Wakita, also serves as director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases. "This cannot be considered as a peak-out toward containment," Wakita said, adding, "If a large cluster develops, the number of cases may increase again."
According to the health ministry, the number of seriously ill patients, including people in intensive care, has continued to rise since July, reaching 331 as of Aug. 26. This is due to an increase in the number of infections among the elderly, who are at risk of becoming seriously ill if they are infected.
The national average utilization rate of hospital beds was 24% as of Aug. 26. However, it is high in some areas, such as 63% in Okinawa Prefecture and 56% in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
