Taiwan on Friday reported 22,819 new cases of COVID-19 and 32 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The deceased ranged in age from below five years old to their 90s. All except one suffered from chronic illnesses or other severe diseases, and 14 had not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said.
Also on Friday, the CECC reported 43 COVID-19 cases newly classified as severe and and 83 newly classified as moderate.
Severe cases involving children
Among the severe cases were four children aged below 10 who were diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), of whom one has a chronic nervous system illness and remains hospitalized, the CECC said.
The conditions of three of the four children have improved, and they were discharged from the hospital, it said.
To date, 176 children aged 12 and under have developed severe illnesses from COVID-19, including 105 cases of MIS-C, 27 cases of encephalitis, and 21 cases of pneumonia, according to the CECC.
Of the 4,914,244 domestically transmitted cases recorded in Taiwan this year, 10,131 have been classified as severe infections and 12,618 as moderate, accounting for 0.21 percent and 0.26 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data as of Aug. 18.
Regional breakdown
Regionally, New Taipei reported the highest number of new cases on Friday, with 4,739, followed by Taipei with 2,757 and Taichung with 2,710.
Taoyuan had 2,632 new cases, Kaohsiung 1,762, Tainan 1,392, Changhua 938, Hsinchu County 700, Hsinchu City 610, Miaoli 601, Yilan 567, Pingtung 565, Yunlin 517, and Hualien 390.
Keelung reported 357 cases, Nantou 317, Chiayi County 315, Taitung 217, Chiayi City 193, Kinmen 140, Penghu 128, and the Matsu Islands 12, the CECC said.
Nearly 5 million cases recorded
To date, Taiwan has recorded 4,998,765 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020. Of those, 4,974,134 have been classified as domestically transmitted, while the remainder were contracted abroad.
With the 32 deaths reported Friday, the number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 9,570.
Meanwhile, 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, 71.8 percent had gotten a first booster shot, and 8.5 percent had gotten a second booster.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel