Taiwan reported on Monday 439 new domestic COVID-19 cases and 191 cases that originated abroad, both of which were the second-highest single-day tallies this year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Monday also marked the 11th consecutive day that new domestic infections have exceeded 100 and the third straight day they have gone past 400, indicating that domestic cases “are still at a high point,” Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (???) said at the CECC daily press conference.
The domestic cases were spread across 18 cities and counties, with New Taipei reporting the highest number with 145, followed by Taipei with 100, and Keelung with 36, CECC data showed.
Kaohsiung reported 32 cases, Taoyuan 25, Hualien County 21, Yilan County 14, and Hsinchu County 12, while 10 each were reported in Hsinchu City and Pingtung County.
Taichung reported nine cases, Chiayi County and Tainan six each, and Changhua County five. Yunlin County recorded four cases, Miaoli County two, and Chiayi City and Taitung County one each.
Patients with moderate to severe illness
Of the 3,976 domestic COVID-19 cases recorded nationwide from Jan. 1 to April 10, 13 were classified as moderate infections and two as severe, while the rest were either mild or asymptomatic, Chen said.
Taiwan added one new patient with moderate symptoms on Monday, a Taiwanese woman in her 30s who had only gotten one COVID-19 vaccine shot.
She tested positive for COVID-19 on April 6, and experienced lower oxygen levels at one point and shortness of breath. She is currently being treated in hospital, Chen said.
Imported cases
Meanwhile, 191 new imported cases were recorded on Monday, with 117 being travelers who tested positive on arrival in Taiwan, according to Chen.
Chen said that one contributing factor to the high number of imported cases was a flight from Vietnam that arrived on Sunday, on which 48 of the 204 passengers on board had tested positive upon arrival.
As positive COVID-19 rates on flights from Vietnam have been high, the CECC introduced a policy earlier this month that requires passengers on these flights to present a negative rapid test taken within six hours before their flight, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration has been tasked to investigate whether airlines are enforcing the policy properly, Chen said.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 28,040 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 19,018 domestically transmitted infections, according to CECC data.
With no deaths reported Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remained at 854, the data showed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel