Osaka Prefecture reported 3,004 new cases of novel coronavirus infections on Wednesday, surpassing the 3,000 threshold for the first time.
This figure was barely surpassed by the 3,168 new cases in Tokyo, which was down 1,060 from the same day last week.
The week-on-week figure in the capital was lower for the 10th consecutive day, while the number of seriously ill COVID-19 patients was 286, down by one from the previous day.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the number of seriously ill patients nationwide decreased by 18 from Tuesday to 2,092 at the start of Wednesday. It was the first time since July 20 that the number of severely ill went down. The national figure had been setting record highs for 19 consecutive days through Tuesday.
According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, the seven-day moving average of new cases through Wednesday was 3,369, down 25% from the previous period's 4,471.
Tokyo also confirmed that seven people in their 40s to 90s who contracted the virus had died.
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