"Maximum caution is necessary," a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry advisory body on the novel coronavirus said Thursday, pointing to various "record-high levels."
It also said the amount of inpatients and seriously ill patients has been on the rise, making it hard to manage hospital space in some areas.
According to the ministry's statistics, the number of newly infected people per 100,000 nationwide was 8.95 in the week ending Nov. 18, but it increased to 12.37 in the week ending Wednesday.
The average effective reproduction rate, which indicates the average number of people that one individual infects, exceeded 1.0 -- considered the threshold for an accelerated spread of the virus -- for the week ending Nov. 17 in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Aichi and Fukuoka and other prefectures. As of Tuesday, the occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients exceeded 50% in Hokkaido, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures.
The advisory body said that in many cases, people in their 20s to 50s who have traveled across prefectural borders have infected others with the virus.
Takaji Wakita, director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases who chairs the advisory body, said, "Young people and those in their prime must be urged to wear masks when traveling or eating."
In an effort to avoid a medical crisis, the ministry encouraged prefectural governments to quantify the risks of becoming seriously ill for patients based on their symptoms, age, record of chronic diseases and other factors to determine whether they should be hospitalized. It aims to narrow down the intake of patients to effectively manage hospital capacity.
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