"Medical facilities are in a critical situation. I want to ask for urgent actions for medical workers," Yoshimura said during the press conference as quoted by Kyodo News Agency.

Beginning from Thursday, people are not allowed to walk outside without strong necessity.

Yoshimura added that he will not allow torchbearers of the Tokyo Olympics relay to run across the prefecture, mentioning that he has already informed the organizing committee on his decision.

On Tuesday, the prefecture registered record 719 COVID-19 cases a day. The occupancy of hospital beds for patients in serious condition was 66.5 percent with 70 percent being the critical rate.