KYODO NEWS - Mar 28, 2020 - 22:19 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

Tokyo continues to see a spike in the number of coronavirus infections, with 63 new cases confirmed Saturday, the largest record for a single day, the metropolitan government said.

The number of daily infections in the Japanese capital more than doubled on Wednesday from the previous day to 41, and continued to stay at a level of 40 or more for the third day in a row on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 299, the highest among Japan's 47 prefectures.

With the newly confirmed cases on Saturday, the number of COVID-19 infections in Tokyo reached 362.

The surge in the figure led Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike to say earlier this week that the capital was facing an "important phase in preventing an explosive rise in the number of infections."

She also requested that the city's nearly 14 million residents stay at home this weekend.