Japan expands COVID-19 curbs as surges strain hospitals

FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians wearing protective face masks make their way at a shopping district on the first day of the country's third state of emergency, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan decided on Thursday to expand its COVID-19 emergency curbs to cover more than 70% of the population, as a record surge in cases strained hospitals in the Olympics host city Tokyo and other parts of the country.

Japan had avoided the explosive outbreaks seen elsewhere. But infections are rising fast as new cases hit record highs in Tokyo, overshadowing the July 23-Aug. 8 Olympics and fuelling doubts over Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's pandemic response.