Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has asked citizens to avoid bars and restaurants in the evenings amid a surge of new coronavirus cases — following his initial hesitation to implement widescale lockdowns.

Abe called for the enhanced social distancing measures Saturday, Japanese news agency NHK reported, after a spike in diagnoses, including 500 new cases Thursday.

Japan has sought to target clusters of cases and avoid socking the economy with mass shutdowns.

The strategy appeared to be succeeding, but since the pandemic forced the delay of the July Tokyo Olympics, cases have more than tripled, according to ABC News. There are currently 6,005 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, up from 1,140 on the day of the March 24 Olympics announcement.

About 100 people have died in Japan of COVID-19, including 11 people from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

A record 197 cases were added to Tokyo’s total Saturday, health officials said, exceeding a high on Friday of 189 additional diagnoses. States of emergency were declared in Tokyo and six other prefectures earlier this week.

With Post wires