Japan to expand coronavirus emergency

Japan was set on Thursday to expand emergency restrictions to eight more prefectures to fight a surge in infections, as worries deepen about strains on the nation's medical system in Olympics host Tokyo and around the country, Reuters reports.

Coronavirus infections are surging faster than ever before as new infections hit record highs in Tokyo, overshadowing the July 23-August 8 Olympics and fuelling doubts over Prime Minister Yasuhide Suga's handling of the pandemic.

Tokyo reported a record 4,166 new infections on Wednesday, while the total number of nationwide infections was nearing 1 million, at 966,907.

"New infections are rising at an unprecedentedly fast pace," Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a panel of experts at which he made the new proposal.

"The situation on the ground (at hospitals) is extremely severe," Nishimura added, noting that serious infections  had doubled in the past two weeks.

The panel signed off on the proposal, but Nishimura told a news conference some members had warned the situation was severe enough to require a nationwide state of emergency - a stance shared by the head of the Japan Medical Association.

Six prefectures including Olympic host city Tokyo are already under full states of emergency to last through August 31 while another five are under less strict "quasi-emergency" directives.