Tokyo registers record spike in daily COVID-19 cases

Tokyo confirmed 293 new cases Friday. “We have asked people and businesses to raise their alert levels,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters, urging social distancing, regularly disinfecting of hands and other measures to curb the outbreak. Japan has never had a total lockdown but asked businesses to close and people to work from home in an “emergency,” starting in April.

Japan's capital has recorded a single-day record number of new coronavirus cases for a second straight day. Tokyo confirmed 293 new cases Friday.

"We have asked people and businesses to raise their alert levels," Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters, urging social distancing, regularly disinfecting of hands and other measures to curb the outbreak. Virus cases in Tokyo were confirmed at 286 Thursday, setting off worries the economy had reopened too quickly.

Tokyo was taken off the area eligible for discounts, set to start next week, under the government "Go To Campaign" to encourage travel and tourism within Japan. Japan has never had a total lockdown but asked businesses to close and people to work from home in an "emergency," starting in April. That has been gradually lifting.

Japan has so far avoided the massive cases of the hardest hit nations, at fewer than 24,000 confirmed cases and about 1,000 deaths..