Japan recorded 503 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, its biggest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, as a state of emergency took effect but commuters still crowded some trains into Tokyo despite government calls to stay at home, Reuters reports.

The jump in new Covid-19 cases, including 144 in the capital, underscored the struggle of Japanese authorities to contain the outbreak without imposing a sweeping, mandatory lockdown on the population as most countries overseas have done.