Japan will shift policy to focus on hospitalising patients who are seriously ill with Covid-19 and those at risk of becoming so, officials said, to avoid strain on the medical system as cases surge in Olympics host city Tokyo and elsewhere.

The country has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, and is recording more than 10,000 daily new infections nationwide, Reuters reports.

“We will secure the necessary beds for severely ill patients and those at risk of becoming so,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said after a government task force meeting.

Other patients will be asked to stay at home, and the government will ensure they can be hospitalised if their condition worsened, Suga said.