Comments by Japanese economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura
The government is under increasing scrutiny and pressure as virus cases continue to mount across the country. The chart pretty much says it all:
The number of active cases in Japan has now risen to over ~7,700. That figure was less than 5,000 cases at the start of last week on 20 July.
The positive news is that despite the rise in cases, the death count (988 deaths as of yesterday, it was 976 deaths at the end of June) isn't rising anywhere as rapidly but we'll see how the situation develops in due time.