The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 344 new moderate-to-severe cases of COVID-19 and 159 deaths, the highest daily number of deaths from the disease.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), head of the CECC’s disease surveillance division, said that 80,195 new local infections were confirmed.
There were also 198 new moderate cases and 146 new severe cases confirmed, said CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.
Photo: CNA
Such cases account for 0.2 percent and 0.12 percent respectively of the local cases reported this year, Lo said.
Of the 159 deaths, 157 people had underlying health conditions, 100 were aged 80 or older, 71 were unvaccinated and 101 did not receive a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, he said.
Five of the severe cases were reported among young people, including three children, Lo said.
A four-year-old girl with epilepsy tested positive for the virus on Friday last week after being taken to an emergency room with a seizure, low blood pressure, low blood oxygen levels and a fever of 40.7°C, Lo said.
She was suspected to have encephalitis and was admitted to an intensive care unit, he said.
National Taiwan University Hospital reported that a 10-year-old boy had the nation’s first case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in a child, Lo said.
The boy was diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 26 and released from isolation after at-home care, but was hospitalized on May 28 with a fever, swollen cervical lymph nodes and rashes, Lo said, adding that the fever lasted three days, and the boy had continuous vomiting and diarrhea.
The symptoms eased and he was moved to a general ward on Sunday, Lo said.
The third severe case involving a child was a bed-ridden 12-year-old boy with congenital disorders who developed pneumonia, Lo said, adding that other cases among young people were a 16-year-old boy with vasculitis and epilepsy who had low blood oxygen levels, respiratory distress and pneumonia, and a 20-year-old man with chronic kidney disease who was admitted to hospital with an injury.
There have been 42 severe COVID-19 cases reported among children in Taiwan, Lo said.
As several children have developed encephalitis after being infected with COVID-19, the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday approved a proposal to study a possible genetic predisposition to complications of the nervous system from COVID-19 infection among Taiwanese children, Lo said.
The project is being led by former minister of health and welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) and 16 medical centers are cooperating in the project, Lo said.
Moreover, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that 88,333 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered on Tuesday, bringing the nation’s first, second and booster dose vaccination rates to 90.45 percent, 82.15 percent and 66.94 percent respectively.
Regarding the number of breakthrough infections this year, the CECC released data showing that as of May 14, 398,837 people aged 18 or older were diagnosed with COVID-19 after receiving a booster shot, making the booster shot breakthrough rate about 3.03 percent.
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