The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 302 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, 331 backlogged cases and 11 deaths, and announced that five restrictions are to be tightened nationwide during the extended level 3 warning period until June 14.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the new local cases are 158 males and 144 females aged from under five to over 90, and the onset of symptoms was between May 8 and Tuesday.
Most of those infected live in New Taipei City (152 cases) or Taipei (87 cases), he said, adding that 21 live in Taoyuan, 13 in Keelung, nine in Taichung, four in Hsinchu County, and one or two cases each in 10 other counties and cities.
Photo: CNA
Lienchiang County is the latest area to be added to the list, marking the first confirmed case on an outlying island.
Of the 331 backlogged cases, 221 live in Taipei, 102 in New Taipei City, three in Taoyuan, two each in Keelung and Taichung, and one in Miaoli County.
Among all cases reported yesterday, 209 had visited Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) recently, 35 are linked to a cluster at teahouses in Wanhua, three are associated with a social club cluster, 170 are linked to previous cases, 122 have unclear links to previous cases and 94 are under investigation, CECC statistics showed.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Eleven deaths from COVID-19 were reported yesterday, the highest daily toll in Taiwan since the pandemic started.
The deaths were nine men and two women aged 50 to 79, Chen said.
The onset of symptoms were reported among them from May 7 and Tuesday, positive test results were returned between Friday last week and Tuesday, and they died in the three days from Sunday to Tuesday, he said.
Photo: CNA
Seven of them had underlying health conditions, and nine had visited Wanhua recently or had contact with confirmed cases, he said.
After backlogged cases were added to the daily case counts from Monday last week to Tuesday, the peak remains on Monday last week with 526 cases, followed by Wednesday last week with 504 cases, Chen said.
Some positive effects from implementing enhanced disease prevention and infection control measures since a level 3 COVID-19 alert was issued have been observed, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
However, the CECC specialist advisory panel recommends that tightened measures must continue to be implemented during the extended alert period to June 14 to help keep the outbreak under control, he said.
People are required to wear a mask at all times when outside, Chen said.
Fines would be imposed without a warning on those who contravene the rules, he said.
Frequent inspections would be carried out at recreational venues ordered to suspend operations, and business owners, on-site staff and members of the public at the site would be fined, he said.
Moreover, restaurants are only allowed to offer delivery or takeout, supermarkets and retail stores should enhance crowd controls, and the public is urged to buy in bulk and visit stores less often, he said.
Wedding banquets and public memorial services are banned, religious gatherings must be suspended and religious venues should be temporarily closed to the public, he added.
There is an exception to the mask mandate for people with dementia, but the center suggests that they avoid unnecessary outings and should be accompanied by a caregiver when outdoors, Chen said.
Another exception is people who work outdoors throughout the day, such as delivery people, but they should only take off their mask to eat in an open space while practicing social distancing, he said.
The CECC last week distributed 1,000 face shields and 2,000 protective goggles to police officers, firefighters and paramedics, and more protective gear would be provided according to demand, Chen said.
While the movement of people should be minimized to control the spread of the virus, the center has asked schools at all levels to tighten dormitory management and banned them from forcing resident students to go home, Chen said.
Asked about cases of sudden death among people isolated at home that physicians have linked to hypoxia, Chen said that centralized quarantine facilities are equipped with pulse oximeters to measure blood oxygen saturation.
Local governments would be subsidized to purchase pulse oximeters for people with COVID-19 who are isolated at home, Chen said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that the CECC has also observed a few cases of “happy hypoxia,” in which the patient did not at first report respiratory distress.
Emergency treatment becomes difficult when their blood oxygen levels drop and symptoms arise suddenly, Lo said.
Pulse oximeters will be included in the guidelines offered to people isolating at home after testing positive in a rapid test, he said, adding that details of the guidelines were discussed in a CECC specialist advisory panel meeting yesterday afternoon.
There are 378 COVID-19 cases with severe pneumonia, 6.9 percent of total cases, which is not a rapid uptick, but the case count is increasing, CECC specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said, adding that 152 people, or 2.8 percent of cases, have respiratory distress syndrome.
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