People wearing face masks walk near JR Shimbashi Station in Tokyo on Jan. 14, 2021, a week after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a coronavirus state of emergency in the Tokyo metropolitan area. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

TOKYO - The number of coronavirus patients recuperating at home in Japan reached 30,208 this week, the health ministry said Saturday, as the country's medical system has been increasingly strained in a third wave of infections.