Tokyo records highest COVID-19 cases since state of emergency lifted

Tokyo confirmed more than 100 new coronavirus infection cases on Thursday, public broadcaster NHK said, the Japanese capital’s highest daily tally in two months.

The city of 14 million initially sought to hold new daily cases below 20 since Japan lifted a state of emergency on 25 May, but its tally has consistently exceeded 50 recently.

This week, the metropolitan government said it would move away from numerical targets and rely more on expert advice to rein in the virus and avert further economic slowdown. Tokyo’s daily count last exceeded 100 on 2 May.