The Latest: Tokyo sees surge, residents urged to stay home

TOKYO — Tokyo is seeing a record surge in coronavirus cases as the governor of the Japanese capital implored people to stay home.

“The coronavirus knows no year end or New Year’s holidays,” Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters.

She asked people to skip countdown ceremonies, and expressed concern people were out shopping in crowded stores.

“Please spend a quiet New Year’s with your family and stay home,” she said, switching to English for “stay home.”

She said the latest figures for Tokyo showed 1,300 new infections. The previous biggest daily number of cases for the capital was 949 people reported last Saturday.

Japan has had more than 230,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 3,000 deaths. Sixty-five of the deaths came on Wednesday, the health ministry said Thursday.

Government-backed discounts for travel have been discontinued after infections started climbing.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— 2020 is finally ending, but New Year’s Eve revelries around the world will be muted by the coronavirus

— A homegrown coronavirus vaccine has won the first approval for general use in China; Sinopharm says it's 79.3% effective

— More contagious variant found in California, where health officials warn people to avoid New Year’s Eve gatherings

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Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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