The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 17 new cases of COVID-19, bring the nation’s total number of confirmed cases to 252.
Of the new cases, 15 were imported and two were locally transmitted, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at the center’s daily news conference in Taipei.
The 15 imported cases were seven women and eight men in their 20s to 60s who entered Taiwan between Monday last week and Monday this week, said Chen, who also heads the center.
Photo: CNA
Prior to the onset of their illness, they had traveled to the US, the UK, New Zealand, Spain, Malaysia, Monaco and Mexico, the center said.
The two cases involving local transmission — the 246th and 247th cases — were people who had been in contact with imported cases, Chen said.
Also at yesterday’s news conference, Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), convener of the center’s expert advisory panel, offered a preliminary analysis of the 235 cases reported as of Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
Of the 235 cases, 38 (16 percent) were locally transmitted and 197 (84 percent) were imported, Chang said.
Forty-three percent of the cases were male and 57 percent female, he said, with their ages ranging from four to 88. The median age was 32.
The most common age group was 20 to 29, which accounted for 84 cases, Chang said, adding that the reason they made up a greater percentage of cases was because more people in that age group had been traveling or studying abroad and they had “more opportunities to be exposed” to the coronavirus.
Of the 235 cases, 173 experienced mild symptoms with no complications, 48 experienced “mild pneumonia” and 14 experienced “severe pneumonia” or acute respiratory distress, he said.
As of yesterday, seven were still on a ventilator in intensive care units, he added.
There are more than 1,000 ventilators available for use in Taiwan, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Separately, National Chengchi University president Kuo Ming-cheng (郭明政) yesterday said in a letter that as of Wednesday, 54 students and teachers had been placed under home quarantine, while two students were in home isolation.
National Tsing Hua University on Tuesday said that 26 students and teachers, who had been in contact with an infected person, were in home isolation.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
RSS