The number of COVID-19 patients recovering at home in Japan has topped 500,000 for the first time amid the recent surging infections due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant and continuous strain on the healthcare system across the country, the health ministry said Monday.

The number of people recuperating from COVID-19 at home stood at 543,045 as of last Wednesday, up 100,000 compared to a week earlier, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Authorities have been asking those with mild symptoms to stay at home for recuperation as high pressure on the medical system fuels concerns that hospitals may run out of beds for COVID-19 patients while Japan's booster shot program is still at an early stage.

The country logged 60,142 new infection cases on Monday, with Tokyo confirming 10,334 new cases.

The western prefecture of Osaka reported 7,997 new cases on Monday, down from 9,008 a week ago.

Amid the sixth wave of infections in the country, the occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients was above 50 percent as of last Wednesday in 20 prefectures across Japan including Tokyo, with Osaka topping the list with 81 percent of beds in use.

Osaka's occupancy rate of hospital beds secured for serious COVID-19 patients stood at 36.3 percent as of Sunday, which is close to the 40-percent threshold for the prefecture to request a state of emergency declaration.

Shigeru Omi, the Japanese government's top COVID-19 adviser, has said that the speed of the infection expansion across the country is slowing down but the number of new COVID-19 cases may stay high or decline only mildly.