Visitors wearing protective face masks walk under decorations for the New Year at Nakamise street leading to Senso-ji temple at Asakusa district, a popular sightseeing spot, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, December 24, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato
TOKYO — Tokyo’s new coronavirus infections are expected to surge to 2,000 on Wednesday, the Fuji News Network reported, as the infectious Omicron variant spread across Japan.
The western prefecture of Osaka expects to record about 1,700 new cases on Wednesday, Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters, nearly tripling from the day before.
Those would be the highest levels in Tokyo and Osaka since early September.
Japan on Sunday stepped up coronavirus restrictions in three regions that host U.S. military facilities, after it appeared that Omicron outbreaks at the bases spilled into the surrounding communities.