Japan records highest single-day deaths as Covid explodes 

Japan’s health authorities reported that 371 deaths were caused by Covid virus in the country in a single day, the highest in a day since the pandemic began in 2020. Japan is coping with the eighth wave of the pandemic. The Ministry of Health reported on September 2 that the previous high of 347 Covid deaths occurred during the seventh wave.

 As of Saturday, the total number of deaths had risen to 54,680. With 28, Kanagawa had the highest number of deaths among prefectures followed by Hokkaido with 25, Tokyo with 24, and Osaka with 19.

In Japan, 174,079 new cases were reported on Friday, up about 20,000 from the same day the previous week. The total number of cases is currently 27,939,118.

With 206,943 new cases on Wednesday, it was the first time since August 25 that a single day's total had surpassed 200,000.

At a panel meeting to discuss measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 and influenza, the government urged those with mild coronavirus symptoms to recover at home before the New Year's holiday season, despite an increase in hospital bed occupancy rates.

Meanwhile, the Covid BF.7 variant has wreaked havoc in China, infecting over 37 lakh people.