Tokyo reports another record for virus cases

Japan’s capital, Tokyo, reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, days after the Olympics began. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga urged people to avoid nonessential outings, but said there was no need to consider a suspension of the Games.

Tokyo reported 2,848 new coronavirus cases, exceeding its earlier record of 2,520 daily cases on Jan. 7. That brings its total to more than 200,000 since the pandemic began last year.

Tokyo is under its fourth coronavirus state of emergency, which is to continue through the Olympics until just before the Paralympics start in late August.

Experts have warned that the more contagious delta variant could cause a surge during the Olympics, which started Friday.

Still, Japan has kept its cases and deaths lower than many other countries. Nationwide, it reported 5,020 daily cases Monday for a total of 870,445 and 15,129 deaths. Its sevenday rolling average of cases is about 3.57 per 100,000 people, compared to 2.76 in India, 17.3 in the United States and 53.1 in Britain, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.