The COVID-19 situation appears to be relatively stable and on a downward trend, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday, as he reported 185 domestic COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths.
“This seems to be a relatively good sign,” Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told a daily news briefing.
In Taipei and New Taipei City, the overall situation seems to be heading in a good direction, he added.
Photo: CNA
He attributed it to public efforts to control the spread of the virus, but warned people against letting their guard down.
Of the new local cases, 83 are males and 102 are females, from younger than five to older than 90, the center said.
The onset of their symptoms was between May 28 and Sunday, it said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
New Taipei City had the most local infections, with 98 cases, followed by 42 in Taipei, it said.
Keelung had 14 cases, Taoyuan had 10, Miaoli County had seven, Hualien County had four, Changhua and Hsinchu counties reported three cases each, Yilan County recorded two cases, and Taichung and Yunlin County each had one case, it said.
Of the 45 domestic cases reported outside Taipei and New Taipei City, 37 had known sources of infection, five had unclear connections with other cases and three were under investigation, it said.
The 15 deaths were nine men and six women in their 50s to 90s, the center said, adding that only one of them did not have a chronic health condition.
They experienced an onset of symptoms between May 10 and Tuesday last week. They were confirmed to have COVID-19 between May 18 and Sunday, and died between June 5 and Sunday, the center said.
Of the 11,547 confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded from May 11 to Saturday, 5,802 people, or 50.2 percent, have been released from isolation, the center said.
The nation on June 4 recorded the highest number of patients being treated in hospital rooms dedicated to people with COVID-19, at 2,539 patients, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has been on a downward trend since that peak, he added.
As of yesterday morning, the number of people being treated in dedicated COVID-19 rooms across the nation had fallen 14 percent from the peak to 2,198, Lo said.
The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care peaked at 435 on June 7, he said.
That figure has also continued to decline over the past week, he said.
As of yesterday, 389 COVID-19 patients nationwide were in intensive care, he said.
Meanwhile, as the nation prepares to expand vaccinations to more priority groups starting today, Chen urged people to show their support to local disease control personnel.
People lining up for COVID-19 vaccinations should maintain social distancing and wear a mask, he said.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan has signed six arms procurement offers from the US totaling more than NT$208 billion (US$6.59 billion) covering long-range precision strike systems, missile stockpile replenishment and joint production of large-caliber ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget has been stalled in the Legislative Yuan as opposition lawmakers question the amount and procurement items, while the Presidential Office and defense ministry say that the full amount is necessary to safeguard Taiwan. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Monday briefed the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the defense budget for
RSS