Taiwan reported 37,265 new COVID-19 infections, including 69 imported cases, and 78 deaths from the disease Friday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
While Friday’s domestic infections represented a 23 percent weekly drop, the CECC said, people should continue to observe the relevant COVID-19 prevention rules.
The deaths reported Friday involved people in their 30s to their 90s. All but four had underlying health issues, and 30 of them were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said.
As of Friday, the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country since the start of the pandemic had climbed to 12,206.
One MIS-C case
The CECC also reported 213 COVID-19 infections classified as moderate and 73 as severe, including one case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
The one MIS-C case is a 1-year-old boy who has no known underlying health issues and had received one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, the CECC said.
The baby is now in stable condition in hospital, according to the CECC.
So far, there have been 163 reported cases of MIS-C among 251 children in Taiwan aged 12 and under who have contracted severe COVID-19 infections, the CECC said. The new MIS-C case is the 100th among children under 5 years old, the CECC said.
In 80 percent of the severe cases, the children had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said, urging parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.
Since the COVID-19 BA.5 subvariant became prevalent in Taiwan in August, some 2.42 million COVID-19 infections and about 2,700 deaths have been reported, according to the CECC.
It said the COVID-19 death rate since then has been 0.11 percent, which is 0.07 percentage points lower than during the BA.2 subvariant wave earlier in the year.
The CECC also said that the relatively high daily number of fatalities right now reflects the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, and that trend might continue for a while.
Regional breakdown
On Friday, New Taipei reported the highest number of new COVID-19 infections, with 6,861, while Taichung had 5,006, Kaohsiung 4,370, Taoyuan 3,668, Taipei 3,489, and Tainan 3,108, according to the CECC.
Changhua County recorded 2,007 cases, Pingtung County 1,252, Yunlin County 895, Hsinchu County 886, Hsinchu City 840, Miaoli County 804, Nantou County 732 and Chiayi County 678.
Yilan County reported 613 cases, Keelung 495, Hualien County 495, Chiayi City 441, Taitung County 301, Kinmen County 150, Penghu County 91 and the Matsu Islands 14, according to CECC data.
Taiwan has recorded 7,379,205 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 35,963 classified as imported.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel