TOKYO, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Sunday confirmed three new cases of COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the prefecture to 101.

Hokkaido is home to some of Japan's most popular tourist destinations. However, many of these sites are almost empty now as the prefecture deals with the largest number of confirmed infections in the country.

Among the three new cases, one is a woman in her 70s, the other two are men in their 60s and 70s respectively.

As the number of infections continues to rise, Governor Naomichi Suzuki declared a state of emergency last Friday.

Since then, all elementary and junior high schools were closed in the prefecture, and students will be off for five weeks until the end of the normal spring break. Meanwhile, many companies have implemented "telework" or work from home policies.

As of 10:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, the number of the COVID-19 infections in Japan rose to 463. Among them, 449 people were infected domestically while 14 are returnees by chartered flights. Enditem

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