Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the country is at a critical stage in dealing with COVID-19 infections but not at a point to declare a state of emergency.

He further said that Japan has managed to keep clusters under control by carefully following infection routes. But the initial strategy is now having a difficulty, with a rise of infections that are no longer traceable which is an early sign of infection explosion.

Japan has 2,180 confirmed cases of the infection with 59 deaths so far, according to the health ministry.