Coronavirus

Cumulative COVID cases exceed 15 mil.

Courtesy of the NIID.
The omicron variant of the novel coronavirus is seen in an electron micrograph.

Jiji Press

11:15 JST, August 13, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japan’s cumulative novel coronavirus cases topped 15 million Thursday as the seventh wave of infections continues amid the spread of the BA.5 omicron subvariant.

On the day, new COVID-19 cases came to 240,205 around the country, bringing the cumulative total to 15,143,597. The daily tally surpassed 200,000 for a third straight day, with Thursday’s figure growing by 1,527 from a week before.

The cumulative count reached 15 million less than a month after topping 10 million on July 14.

On Thursday, newly confirmed cases hit record daily highs in Yamagata, Fukushima, Ishikawa, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki prefectures.

There were 206 fatalities nationwide, bringing the cumulative death toll to 34,596. The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients increased by six from Wednesday to 603.

New cases soared early this year amid the sixth wave, with the cumulative tally exceeding 5 million on Feb. 28.