Japan sees 20% fall in number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in nine days

People practice social distancing as they wait for a food aid handouts, under a nationwide state of emergency as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan saw a 20% fall in the number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in nine days to May 7, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

Japan had 4,449 COVID-19 patients in hospitals as of May 7, down from 5,558 on April 28, the ministry said in a statement.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, editing by Louise Heavens)