Taiwan reported 39 deaths from COVID-19 and 46,902 new infections on Wednesday, including 229 imported cases, with the youngest fatality being just three years of age, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
The deceased had all been diagnosed as severe cases of COVID-19 and ranged in age from three years old to their 90s; all but two had a history of chronic illnesses; and 24 had fewer than three shots of vaccines, the CECC said.
The youngest COVID-19 mortality reported Wednesday was a three-year-old boy who had only had one vaccination against the disease on Aug. 6, and started displaying symptoms of fever, shivers, a runny nose and headache on Sept. 16, when he tested positive, Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, told a news conference in Taipei.
Despite having been given medication, his parents found him lying unconscious the next day with what was apparently vomit in his bed, Lo said.
He had no pulse and was not breathing when he was rushed to the hospital, with an autopsy showing the cause of death to be respiratory failure, he said.
MIS-C cases
In addition, six cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) were reported on Wednesday, and one of them, a four-year-old girl, exhibited symptoms 101 days after she was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, marking the longest interval recorded in the nation to date, he said.
The girl, who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, was confirmed to have been infected with the virus on May 28, and only started displaying MIS-C symptoms, including fever and abdominal pain, on Sept. 6, he said.
She was initially misdiagnosed with acute enterocolitis on Sept. 9, but was re-diagnosed with MIS-C after exhibiting further conditions including conjunctivitis, strawberry tongue and chapped lips, he said.
Regional breakdown
New Taipei reported the highest number of new cases Wednesday with 10,252, followed by Taichung with 5.913, Taipei with 5,705, Taoyuan with 5,200, Kaohsiung with 3,593, and Tainan with 2,620, the CECC said in a statement.
Changhua County recorded 2,160 new cases, Hsinchu County 1,416, Hsinchu City 1,209, Yilan County 1,125, Miaoli County 1,106, Pingtung County 1049, Yunlin County 993, and Keelung 955.
Nantou County had 848 cases, Hualien County 731, Chiayi County 654, Chiayi City 432, Taitung County 394, Kinmen County 162, Penghu County 135, and the Matsu Islands 21, the CECC said.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 6,090,373 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 32,877 cases classified as “imported” because they were deemed to have originated abroad. Taiwan has also recorded 10,643 deaths with 10,627 being from local cases.
As of Tuesday, 93.4 percent of those eligible in Taiwan had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, while 87.3 percent had received two shots and 72.9 percent had received a first booster shot.
About 10.3 percent of the population has received a second booster shot, including 36 percent of those aged 65 and above, CECC statistics showed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel