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
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