TOKYO (Reuters) -The fast spreading Omicron variant lurked behind rising coronavirus infections in Tokyo, where new cases rose to 103 on Monday, up from 84 the previous day and the highest since Oct. 8.
Governor Yuriko Koike said Tokyo had 25 cases of Omicron, of which 11 were possibly transmitted within the community, Kyodo News reported.
Japan is bracing for rising infection numbers due to people travelling for the New Year’s holidays.
In Okinawa, where tourists flock to popular beach resorts, new daily coronavirus infections rose to 130 on Monday, the highest since Sept. 25, Kyodo said. As of Monday, Okinawa had registered a total 88 cases of the Omicron variant, it said.
Omicron is also spreading in other prefectures. Kanagawa, a prefecture neighboring Tokyo, confirmed one case on Monday, according to Kyodo. Hiroshima in western Japan confirmed 12 new cases, bring its total cases to 14, the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper reported.
(Reporting by Junko FujitaEditing by Jacqueline Wong, David Goodman & Simon Cameron-Moore)
