Face masks are the norm for pedestrians as seen during the morning rush hour in Tokyo on July 22. AP Photo The daily number of new COVID 19 cases hit 251,626 nationwide as of 6 p.m. on Aug. 18, surpassing the previous high of 250,347 marked on Aug. 10.
At least 21 prefectures reported single-day records as of 6: 30 p.m.
Of the 251,626 cases, 27,453 were confirmed in Tokyo, followed by 24,323 in Osaka Prefecture.
Tokyo's latest tally was down 3,794 from a week ago, marking the third day of a week-on-week decline.
The 27,453 new cases include 2,024 cases in which samples were brought in from outside the capital for testing or positive test results were registered at centers outside Tokyo.
There were also 27 deaths in their 60 s to 90 s in the capital.
The daily average of new cases over the week through Aug. 18 in Tokyo was 24,347, or 82.1 percent of the average for the previous week.
In their 20 s the largest age group of new patients was 5,067 followed by 4,851 in their 40 s, 4,781 in their 30 s and 3,867 in their 50 s.
The occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID 19 patients in Tokyo was 59.8 percent, while 33.8 percent of hospital beds for severely ill patients were filled, officials said.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said it would consider asking the central government to issue a state of emergency for the capital if the occupancy rate of beds for seriously ill patients was between 30 and 40 percent.
The metropolitan government defines seriously ill patients as those requiring ventilators or ECMO heart-lung bypass machines.
Their number dropped by two from the previous day to 33 on Aug. 18.