The number of deaths during the seventh wave "may exceed that of the sixth wave," he added.

Also the fatalities of Covid is after people have been vaccinated.

An expert panel cautioned people not to underestimate the omicron variant, saying that the proportion of fatalities among all omicron carriers stood at 0.13% as of February, higher than the fatality rate for seasonal influenza, which is estimated to be around 0.006%-0.09%.

Japan COVID deaths up sevenfold over month amid latest virus wave

Japan is seeing a surge in the number of COVID-19-related deaths during the ongoing seventh infection wave, with such cases up sevenfold in the course of one month, even though new cases are starting to decrease in some areas.

With the BA.5 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus running rampant across the country, the number of daily deaths linked to COVID-19 has recently been exceeding 200 nearly every day, coming close to the levels seen during the sixth wave that swept across the country at the beginning of this year.

According to the health ministry, the daily tally of COVID-19 deaths announced by local governments hit a record high of 277 on Feb. 22 this year, during the height of the sixth wave.

COVID-19 deaths then started to decrease, with the total staying below 100 for around four months from April 2. The number of death cases was below 10 on some days.

The figure climbed back above 100 on July 26, as a result of a steep increase in the number of new cases from the end of June.

Since hitting 250 on Aug. 9, the number of related deaths in the country has topped the 200-mark almost every day. The number of deaths stood at 215 on Monday, around seven times the figure on July 15.

Many have brought up the low risk of COVID-19 patients developing severe symptoms from the omicron variant.

An expert panel under the health ministry, however, cautioned people not to underestimate the omicron variant, saying that the proportion of fatalities among all omicron carriers stood at 0.13% as of February, higher than the fatality rate for seasonal influenza, which is estimated to be around 0.006%-0.09%.

"The number of deaths has gone up, with the occupancy rates of hospital beds (for COVID-19 patients) rising and many patients unable to receive adequate treatment due to temporary closures of hospital wards caused by an increase of infected health care workers," said National Institute of Infectious Diseases chief Takaji Wakita, who also chairs the expert panel.

The number of deaths during the seventh wave "may exceed that of the sixth wave," he added.

Wakita called on people to wear unwoven masks even while on holiday, as well as continue to avoid closed, crowded and close-contact, or 3C, settings.

Wakita has said even if new cases are starting to decrease in some areas, medical institutions cannot be optimistic due to mass infections at facilities for the elderly. "We are concerned about future developments in the situation," he said during a panel meeting last week.

He added that social and economic activities as a whole are being affected due to a surge in the number of people who had close contact with infected people.

A separate health ministry task force has given its consent to additionally obliging parents and other guardians of those age 5 to 11 to make efforts to vaccinate the children against the coronavirus under the vaccination law.

On this, Wakita said, "It's important to consider vaccination while confirming effectiveness and safety."

14 hospitals in Kyoto put up red alert that hospitals have been overwhelmed in the Covid 7th wave in Japan.