Tokyo logs 54 new cases, mostly younger people

Tokyo has confirmed 54 new cases of the coronavirus, with the number staying at its highest since early May. Japan lifted a seven-week pandemic state emergency in late May, and social and business activity has since largely resumed. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said although the new daily cases remain high, but capital is not facing a second wave of infections.

Tokyo has confirmed 54 new cases of the coronavirus, with the number staying at its highest since early May. Japan lifted a seven-week pandemic state emergency in late May, and social and business activity has since largely resumed.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said although the new daily cases remain high, but capital is not facing a second wave of infections. She said the rate of infection was not increasing rapidly as in late March, and that Tokyo's hospitals and health system are able to cope. Koike said experts are now working to compile a new “caution scale” that better fits social and economic activities in the ongoing phase of living with the virus.

Most of the latest cases are people in their 20s and 30s. Koike said many recent cases are linked to workplaces and nightclubs and transmitted to family members. Tokyo has had 5,997 cases and 325 deaths, about one-third of the national total.