Japan sees COVID patients rising for 9th straight week

The average number of COVID-19 patients among designated hospitals across Japan has been rising for nine consecutive weeks since the coronavirus was downgraded to the same category as seasonal influenza in May, health ministry data showed Friday.The average among the roughly 5,000 medical institutions stood at 11.04 in the week from July 10, according to the data, exceeding 10 for the first time since the reporting system was implemented in early May.The total number of patients they reported was up over 20 percent from the previous week at 54,150.Following the downgrade, the government sto…READ FULL ARTICLE