Tokyo, Jan 6 (IANS): Japan on Friday reported 456 Covid-related deaths, an all-time high as there was no stopping for the coronavirus that has killed thousands in just a span of one month in the country.

There were concerns that the Covid infection and death numbers would only go up with the New Year festivities.

The country reported 245,542 coronavirus cases, up 18,638 from Thursday and Tokyo reported 20,720 new cases, down 15, reports Japan Today.

The number of infected people hospitalised with severe symptoms in Tokyo was 53, up four from Thursday, health officials said. The nationwide figure was 659, up nine from Thursday.

In December 2022, Japan registered a record 7,688 deaths due to Covid, surpassing the earlier monthly high of 7,329 logged in August during the previous coronavirus wave.

According to Mainichi Japan, the death toll rose sharply since November with the onset of the eighth wave.

While the severity rate has dropped with the Omicron strain of the coronavirus, the variant's increased transmissibility means that infections have risen by an order of magnitude, the report mentioned.

The number of people dying from Covid-19 over the last three months in Japan is nearly 16 times higher than during the same period last year.

Over the four-month period from August 31 to December 27 this year, people in their 80s represented 40.8 per cent of the deaths.

"Those in their 90s and above accounted for 34.7 per cent, and those in their 70s made up another 17 per cent. In total, people in these three age brackets accounted for 92.4 per cent of the fatalities," the report mentioned.