Japan logs record 7,688 COVID-19 deaths for December

A record 7,688 people in Japan died from COVID-19 in December, exceeding the previous monthly high of 7,329 logged in August during the previous wave, a tally has shown.The death toll has increased sharply since November with the onset of the eighth wave. The daily count hit a record 438 on Tuesday and remained above 400 the following day, though it has since fallen below 200 with fewer people being tested over the year-end holidays, according to the Kyodo News tally.While the severity rate has dropped with the Omicron strain of the coronavirus, the variant's increased transmissibility mean…READ FULL ARTICLE