NHK reported that a Tokyo Metropolitan Government coronavirus taskforce has raised its coronavirus alert level to the second highest level in response to the spike in cases among Tokyo residents. The panel of public health experts reportedly warned that if the upward trend continues, as many as 10,000 people will test positive per day in about a week. “The current rate of the spread of infection is unprecedentedly high, and it may reach a critical level by Jan. 20,” the panel stated. “As there is a large chance that everyone in Tokyo, including healthcare and essential workers, will become infected or come into ‘close contact’ [with someone who is infected], it is possible that social and economic activities will grind to a halt.”