Olympic host city Tokyo has asked hospitals to prepare more beds for Covid-19 patients, as the number of cases in the Japanese capital hit a daily record high of 2,848.
Daily infections in the city, which has seen an influx of overseas visitors for the Tokyo Games, doubled to 1,429 yesterday from a week earlier.
That was the highest number for a Monday since the pandemic began and followed a similar record set on Sunday. Infection numbers tend to dip following weekends and holidays when testing capacity shrinks so experts and policymakers were closely watching today's numbers, due to be released in the afternoon, to get a clearer picture of the situation.