NHK gave top play to a report that Tokyo, Aichi, Osaka, and other prefectures with a surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases are on high alert ahead of the start of the Obon holidays in Japan. NTV led with a report that Tokyo Governor Koike called on residents not to travel across prefectural borders or return to their hometowns during the summer holidays. TBS highlighted the fact that 360 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Tokyo yesterday. Fuji TV and TV Asahi led with reports that the first heatstroke alert was issued for Tokyo, Chiba, and Ibaraki yesterday since a new alert system was introduced last month. 

Top stories in national dailies included the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima (Asahi, Mainichi), a delay in the GOJ’s disbursement of subsidies to hospitals with special wards for coronavirus patients (Yomiuri), a survey showing that Japan’s death rate among people hospitalized for COVID-19 is much lower than those of other nations (Sankei), and China’s expanding loans to heavily indebted developing countries (Nikkei).