Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Japan has hit a new daily record of coronavirus cases.
The country reported 1,601 cases of COVID-19 Friday, the highest number since the pandemic began, the country's Ministry of Health said.
It's also the fourth-consecutive day that Japan has recorded more than 1,000 cases.
Urban areas were especially hard hit. The Japanese capital of Tokyo reported 462 new cases Friday, surpassing 400 for the second day in a row. And Osaka, Japan's second-largest metropolitan area recorded a daily high of 255 cases.
In response to rising cases, prefecture governors have asked citizens to avoid travel over Japan's summer holiday season, which started Saturday.
On Thursday, Japan commemorated the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima with a scaled-down ceremony and face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Japanese restaurant chain, Saizeriya, said Friday that it developed a face mask to be used while eating and drinking.
Japan has reported 47,324 cases and 1,042 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the Johns Hopkings University global tracker.
South Korea has also seen a new high in cases with health authorities reporting the highest level of new cases in more than two weeks Saturday.
The new cases were reported in South Korea's capital of Seoul and nearby regions.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 43 new cases over the past 24 hours, including 30 local cases and 13 imported cases.
Sixteen of the local cases have been linked to a church in Going City, Gyeonggi province, Kwon Joon-wook, vice director of South Korea's CDC, said in a briefing.
Kwon added that this is the second church in Going City linked to new infections.
A separate church in the same city previously reported 18 infections, he said.
To date, South Korea has reported 14,562 cases and 304 deaths.
Germany has also seen a spike.
The country reported 1,122 new cases Friday, marking the third day in a row that over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases were recorded.
Germany also reported 12 new deaths Friday, which has brought Germany's total death toll from the pandemic to 9,200, according to the global tracker.
Government officials have responded to the spike by calling for people to strictly adhere to COVID-19 safety measures and calling for expansion of testing.
Anyone entering from a high-risk country was required as of Saturday, to take a mandatory COVID-19 test upon arrival.
Germany has reported 216,325 cases, according to the global tracker.
The United States has the most cases at more than 4.9 million and the most deaths at over 161,300. Brazil has the second-highest number of cases at over 2.9 million and over 99,500 deaths.
Worldwide, COVID-19 has sickened more than 19.4 million and killed over 721,900.
