Japan reached the milestone of one million coronavirus cases on Friday, domestic media reported, as infections surged in Olympic host Tokyo to other urban areas and the country grapples with an unprecedented speed of spread of the Delta variant.
A driver of Finance Minister Taro Aso had caught COVID-19, the Ministry of Finance said, prompting Aso to self-quarantine at home. Aso has shown no symptom but had a PCR test, results of which will be known on Saturday, Kyodo news wire reported.
The number increased by 144,000 since the Tokyo Olympics began on July 23. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga reiterated that he did not think holding the Games contributed to rising infections. Infections in Osaka, the biggest city in the country's west, also rose to a record-breaking 1,310, in a sign the virus is quickly spreading outside Tokyo.
"We need to take into account local conditions. Each region can take their own step," Suga told reporters in Hiroshima, where he attended a ceremony to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombing.
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