Tokyo: Japan has faced a new surge of COVID-related deaths, with 8,103 fatalities recorded in January so far, the highest monthly tally since the start of the pandemic, data from the Japanese Health Ministry showed.

A total of 326 deaths from COVID-19 were reported nationwide over the past 24 hours, according to the ministry.

More than 5,000 people died from the disease over the last 12 days.

COVID-related fatalities have been on the rise in Japan since early December 2022.

The pandemic claimed 65,400 lives in total since 2020.

In October, 1,800 people died from the disease, followed by over 3,000 in November and 7,600 in December.

Meanwhile, people over 60 account for 97% of all COVID-related deaths.
If the rate of coronavirus mortality continues through January, Japan could record as many as 10,000 coronavirus fatalities by the end of January.

Experts believe that the spike has been caused not by an increased risk of complications, but by the fact that there are more deaths from pneumonias and cardiovascular disorders, strokes and heart attacks caused by COVID-19.

(With UNI inputs)