Taiwan recorded 79,487 new COVID-19 cases and 53 deaths Sunday, with the total number of cases edging below 80,000 for the first time in five days, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The 53 people who died were in their 40s to 90s, the CECC said, and 52 of the 53 had chronic illnesses or suffered from severe diseases such as cancer, according to CECC data.
A total of 17 of the 53 had not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 20 had received three vaccine jabs, nine had received two jabs, and seven had received one jab, CECC data showed.
The youngest people who died among the deaths reported Sunday were a man and a woman in their 40s who received one dose and three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, respectively, according to CECC data.
The man had a history of liver cirrhosis, while the woman had a nervous system disease, according to CECC data.
Lo Yi-chun (???), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said at a press briefing Sunday that both the man and the woman died after developing pneumonia and experiencing respiratory failure.
The CECC also reported Sunday that 198 more people had developed moderate COVID-19 symptoms and 58 more people had developed severe symptoms.
Among the 58 people who developed severe symptoms was a 10-year-old boy not known to have any underlying illnesses who developed encephalitis and multiple organ abnormalities, Lo said.
Others included a 1-year-old girl who has septicemia and respiratory distress and a boy of around that age who may have encephalitis, Lo said.
The three children are all being treated with the antiviral medication remdesivir, Lo said.
The three severe cases brought to 12 the number of children in Taiwan who have had severe COVID-19 symptoms, of whom five, including four under the age of 5, have been diagnosed with encephalitis, Lo said.
In the other seven severe cases, four were diagnosed with pneumonia, two with septicemia, and one with laryngotracheobronchitis, Lo said.
There have also been two children under 10 who have died from COVID-19 from among a total of 139,621 children 9-years-old or under that have been confirmed as having COVID-19 so far this year, according to CECC data.
Of the 1,213,756 domestic cases recorded in Taiwan from Jan. 1 to May 21, 2,050 have been classified as moderate infections and 690 as severe, accounting for 0.17 percent and 0.06 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data.
In all the other cases, the patients were either asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms, the CECC said.
On Sunday, New Taipei reported the highest number of domestic cases — 20,698 — followed by Taoyuan with 11,168, Taipei with 9,645, Taichung with 7,250, and Kaohsiung with 7,135.
Tainan reported 4,678 cases, Changhua County 2,358, Hsinchu County 2,328, Pingtung County 2,256, Keelung 1,799, Yilan County 1,778, Miaoli County 1,636, Hsinchu City 1,613, Hualien County 1,096, Nantou County 953, Yunlin County 916, Chiayi County 760, Taitung County 565, and Chiayi City 431.
Penghu County reported 165 cases, Kinmen County 139, and the Matsu Islands 74.
Meanwhile, of Sunday’s 79,487 new COVID-19 cases, 46 were contracted abroad, new imported cases, of which involved travelers who tested positive on arrival in Taiwan, according to the CECC.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 1,320,371 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, with all but 12,523 of them domestically transmitted.
With the 53 deaths reported Sunday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country reached 1,396, with 543 recorded this year.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel