Japan's Osaka to report over 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday: media

TOKYO:

Japan’s western region of Osaka is set to report a daily record of more than 1,000 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the Yomiuri newspaper said in its online edition.

The virus has hit the prefecture, home to 8.8 million people, hard in recent weeks, prompting authorities to enforce targeted lockdown measures. Similar curbs were adopted in Tokyo on Monday amid a rebound in the capital region.

A highly contagious variant discovered in Britain is driving a fourth wave of cases in western Japan, mostly among younger people, with a record 918 infections on Saturday.

Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura has cancelled Olympic Torch relay runs on public streets.

Last week Japan clamped curbs on Osaka, its neighboring prefecture of Hyogo and Miyagi in the northeast allowing authorities to order shorter operating hours for businesses such as bars and restaurants, impose fines of 200,000 yen ($1,820) or publish the names of defaulters.