Taiwan on Tuesday recorded its first COVID-19 death, an Omicron variant infection, and reported 45 new cases of the disease, including five that were domestically transmitted, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The fatal case
The fatal case was a Taiwanese woman in her 80s who suffered from chronic illnesses, including kidney problems that required dialysis, the CECC said.
Because of the severity of her chronic diseases, she was placed in hospital isolation on Jan. 10, after being identified as a contact of an infected person, a taxi driver who was part of a singing club cluster in Taoyuan, the CECC said.
The elderly woman, who was vaccinated with two doses of AstraZeneca, tested positive for the Omicron variant on Jan. 19 before the end of her hospital quarantine period, the CECC said.
While in hospital, she was being treated with the drug remdesivir, which has been authorized for emergency use to treat COVID-19 in many countries, including Taiwan.
After obtaining two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests, the woman was about to be discharged from hospital, but she died suddenly on Feb. 4, the CECC said.
Her death brought the total number COVID-19 fatalities in Taiwan to 852.
New domestic cases
Meanwhile, Taiwan on Tuesday reported 45 new cases of COVID-19, five of which were classified as domestic infections, with all but one of the them linked to existing clusters, according to the CECC.
One of the new domestic cases is an aviation police officer at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport whose infection source is unknown, the CECC said.
Two cases were linked to cluster infections at an Askey Computer factory in Taoyuan’s Farglory Free Trade Zone (FTZ), while the other two were linked to a cluster at a Career Technology Co. plant in Shulin District, the CECC said.
Imported cases
In addition to the domestic cases, Taiwan also reported 40 imported cases on Tuesday, including 35 people who arrived from the United States, India, Singapore, Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, the United Kingdom, Spain, Algeria, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Brazil, and Argentina.
Travel information regarding five of the imported cases was unavailable.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed a total of 19,666 COVID-19 cases, including 15,328 domestically transmitted infections.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel