55 new virus cases in Japan:

Health

Abe

The number of Japan’s new coronavirus infections rose by 55 to 16,064 over the last 24 hours as of 4:00 pm (0700 GMT) on Wednesday, the health ministry and local authorities said.

The death toll climbed by 12 to 679. Tokyo reported 10 additional infections, coming below 40 for the eighth day in a row, which brought the total cases in the Japanese capital to 4,997. The figures excluded those who were related to the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo in February.

Amid a slowdown in the number of new infections, the government plans to decide on Thursday whether it will partially lift the nationwide state of emergency over the pandemic before the planned May 31 expiry. Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extended its nationwide state of emergency to May 31.

Out of Japan’s 47 prefectures, the government is considering to study removing the emergency declaration in 34 prefectures with less infection cases, in addition to some of the remaining 13 prefectures that are under special alert. The hardest-hit Tokyo and Osaka are designated as special alert prefectures.

Meanwhile, South Korea reported 26 more cases of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, with 22 of them local ones, bringing the nation’s total infections to 10,962, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The death toll increased by one to 259, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The country had been adding fewer than 15 cases of COVID-19 since mid-April. But the number of daily new cases has been hovering around 30 for the past three days after an unexpected spike following a cluster infection linked to Seoul’s nightspots. The government gave the go-ahead on May 6 to its “everyday life quarantine” scheme; the normalization of public facilities and other business establishments. But due to the recent surge in virus cases, it decided to push back the reopening of schools by one week to next Wednesday. (KUNA)