Taiwan on Saturday reported 22,161 new cases of COVID-19 and 36 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The deceased ranged in age from their 40s to their 90s. All except two suffered from chronic illnesses or other severe diseases, and 23 had not received vaccination booster shots for COVID-19, the CECC said.
Also on Saturday, the CECC reported 36 COVID-19 cases newly classified as severe and 81 newly classified as moderate.
Severe cases involving children
Among the severe cases were three children aged between 1 and 11, who were diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), the CECC said.
The conditions of the three children have improved, with two discharged, while one still remained in hospital, the CECC said.
To date, 179 children aged 12 and under have developed severe illnesses from COVID-19, including 108 cases of MIS-C, according to the CECC.
Of the 4,959,531 domestically transmitted cases recorded in Taiwan this year, 10,174 have been classified as severe infections and 12,692 as moderate, accounting for 0.21 percent and 0.25 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data as of Aug. 19.
Regional breakdown
Regionally, New Taipei reported the highest number of new cases on Friday, with 4,488, followed by Taichung with 2,689, and Taipei with 2,634.
Taoyuan had 2,465 new cases, Kaohsiung 1,751, Tainan 1,336, Changhua County 949, Hsinchu County 628, Hsinchu City 609, Pingtung County 579, Miaoli County 565, Yilan County 545, Yunlin County 510, and Hualien County 429.
Keelung reported 377 cases, Chiayi County 304, Chiayi City 215, Taitung County 204, Kinmen 130, Penghu 90, and the Matsu Islands 15, the CECC said.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 5,020,895 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020. Of those, 4,996,031 have been classified as domestically transmitted, while the remainder were contracted abroad.
With the 36 deaths reported Saturday, the number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 9,608.
Meanwhile, the latest CECC data showed that 92.3 percent of the eligible population in Taiwan had received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 86.3 percent had received a second shot, 71.9 percent had gotten a first booster shot, and 8.6 percent had gotten a second booster.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel