The Tokyo Metropolitan Government says the daily tally of new cases of coronavirus infection has surpassed 40,000 for the first time in the Japanese capital.

Officials confirmed a record 40,406 new cases on Thursday. The figure was up more than 8,500 from a week earlier and represented an increase of about 30 percent.

The case count has topped the number of the previous week for nine days in a row.

Tokyo officials say the patients cover a wide age range, with some less than 10 and others being centenarians.

They say seven patients died: one woman in her 50s and the rest between eighty and 100-plus.

Officials say the number of seriously ill patients who are on ventilators or ECMO heart-lung machines stood at 27, up three from Wednesday.