The number of children and students in Japan infected with the coronavirus hit a record high of nearly 270,000 in July.

The education ministry takes a survey every month on the number of cases at kindergartens and schools.

Officials said the tally in July was about five-fold the figure from June at over 269,000. This exceeds the previous record set in February of more than 251,000.

Nearly 148,000 cases, or more than half of the total in July, were reported at elementary schools. That was followed by around 65,000 at junior high schools and nearly 49,000 at senior high schools.

Ministry officials are calling for thorough measures to prevent infections toward the end of the summer vacation. They also urged school officials to respond flexibly so children can continue studying.