More than half of Tokyo's hospital beds set aside for COVID-19 patients were occupied on Tuesday, a level that officials have previously flagged as a criterion for requesting a state of emergency.

The capital and most of Japan are now under curbs to contain record coronavirus cases driven by the contagious Omicron variant.

Tokyo has set aside almost 7,000 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, and admissions have risen sharply this month, reaching 50.7 percent on Tuesday. New infections numbered 14,445.