Tokyo hit another six-month high in new Covid-19 cases today, one day before the Olympics begin, as worries grow of a worsening of infections during the Games.
Thursday's 1979 new cases are the highest since 2044 were recorded on January 15.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is determined to hold the Olympics, placed Tokyo under a state of emergency on July 12, but daily cases have sharply increased since then.
The emergency measures, which largely involve a ban on alcohol sales and shorter hours for restaurants and bars, are to last until August 22, after the Olympics end on August 8.
Japan has reported about 853,000 cases and 15,100 deaths since the pandemic began, most of them this year. Still, the number of cases and deaths as a share of the population are much lower than in many other countries.