The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 88 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and nine deaths, and confirmed that two more cases from a cluster in Pingtung County had the Delta variant.
Among the 88 local cases, 48 are males and 40 are females, aged from under five to over 90, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Twenty-seven of them tested positive while under isolation or upon ending isolation, he added.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
New Taipei City reported the most cases at 41, followed by Taipei with 33; Tainan with eight; Taoyuan with three; and Hsinchu City and Nantou and Pingtung counties with one each, he said.
The infection sources of 60 cases have been identified, 26 cases are being investigated and two have unclear infection sources, CECC data showed.
The nine deaths reported are three men and six women, aged in their 40s to 90s, all of whom had underlying health conditions.
Photo copied by Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Of the total 632 COVID-19 deaths reported since last year, 624 were locally transmitted cases and eight were imported.
Chen said two more people involved in a cluster of 12 cases in Pingtung County have been confirmed to have the Delta variant.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that there are now eight people — six locally transmitted cases and two imported cases — in the cluster infected with the variant.
As the remaining four cases in the cluster are family members of two people infected with the Delta variant, they have likely been infected with the same virus strain, he said, adding that the CECC would also conduct genome sequencing on a few suspected cases with unknown infection sources in other areas.
Meanwhile, the CPBL has submitted a proposal to resume its pro baseball games under strict COVID-19 preventive measures, but nonetheless decided to maintain the suspension to ensure fans’ safety.
Chen said that the disease prevention plan submitted by the league was feasible.
However, as several cluster infections have recently been reported and the situations need to be clarified, it is not appropriate to resume games at this time, he said.
There have been concerns about whether more people under the age of 18 might become infected, as they are not eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Of the more than 13,300 confirmed cases reported after May 11, only 921 cases — about 6.9 percent — are under the age of 20, Lo said.
Of the 921 cases, only four people had severe COVID-19 symptoms, accounting for about 0.2 percent of all severe cases, he said.
While young people can be infected, people who are 65 or older have been prioritized to receive vaccines as they are more at risk of having severe symptoms, Lo said.
In other news, self-paid polymerase chain reaction tests for COVID-19 are now available at hospitals operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare at a lower cost, the CECC said.
The price of standard tests, which are processed within 48 hours, has been reduced from NT$5,000 to NT$3,500, while the price of expedited tests, which are typically ready on the same day, has been cut from NT$7,000 to NT$4,500, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and
RSS