Tokyo has recorded more than 70 new coronavirus infections — its highest tally in a single day — as pressure builds on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to order a lockdown, Reuters reported.

Domestic cases topped 2,000, and public broadcaster NHK said 78 cases in the Japanese capital took its tally of infections past 500.

A government spokesman said Abe told cabinet members that he and his second-in-command Taro Aso will no longer attend the same meetings, a move to protect Japan’s leadership from infection that could hamper its battle against the virus.