The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 364 new domestic cases of COVID-19, 219 backlogged cases and 17 deaths, while more than 1 million vaccine doses donated by Japan are to arrive today.
Last week, Japan announced a plan to share vaccines with Taiwan and today, 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are to arrive in Taiwan, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported yesterday, citing a report by Japanese public broadcaster NHK and an anonymous source in Tokyo.
Of the new local cases, 186 are male and 178 female, aged under five to over 90, with an onset of symptoms between April 28 and Wednesday, the center said in a statement.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Of the backlogged cases, 120 are male and 99 female, aged under five to over 80, with an onset of symptoms between May 13 and Monday, it said.
Of the 583 local infections, New Taipei City had the most, with 265 cases, followed by 224 in Taipei, 34 in Miaoli County, 30 in Taoyuan, 15 in Changhua County, five in Taichung, four in Keelung, two in Tainan, and one each in Hsinchu City and Kaohsiung, as well as Hualien and Yilan counties, the center said.
Of the cases reported outside Taipei and New Taipei City, 77 had known sources of infection, 14 had unclear connections with other cases and three were under investigation, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
The 17 deaths — 13 men and four women, aged in their 40s to 90s — had an onset of symptoms between May 12 and Tuesday last week, tested positive for COVID-19 between May 14 and Thursday last week, and died between Friday last week and Tuesday, the center said.
Yesterday, the center also announced two new imported cases of COVID-19: a man in his 20s arriving from Indonesia for work on May 5 and a man in his 20s arriving from Vietnam for work on May 18.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 9,974 confirmed cases of COVID-19: 1,143 imported cases, 8,778 domestic cases and 166 deaths, center data showed.
Photo: Reuters
Out of the total, 352 students were confirmed to have COVID-19 from April 20 to Wednesday, Ministry of Education data showed.
The percentage of young people infected with COVID-19 is rising, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told the daily CECC briefing in Taipei.
Before May 10, 34.3 percent of those infected were aged 20 to 39, he said.
While the percentage dropped to 19.9 percent between May 11 and Wednesday, yesterday’s data showed that it has since risen to 25.2 percent, he said.
Some young people might have become lax at practicing disease prevention measures, as the virus situation had seemed more stable, he said, urging 20 to 39-year-olds to minimize gatherings, and to protect themselves by wearing a mask and washing their hands.
He urged people not to travel during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday from Saturday next week until June 14 unless it is essential to do so.
A nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert issued on May 19 remains in effect until June 14.
Additional reporting by Lin Tsuei-yi
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