The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that 64 COVID-19-related deaths were reported last week, the highest weekly number in five months. It said the JN.1 subvariant has become the dominant strain.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said 546 hospitalized COVID-19 cases and 64 deaths were reported last week, and that 79 percent of the cases were elderly people aged 65 or older.
SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance data from the past four weeks showed that the JN.1 subvariant accounted for 52 percent of sequenced cases, followed by the EG.5 strain at 35 percent and the XBB.1.5 strain at 7 percent, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
The global testing positivity rate has started decreasing, but the rates in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific are still increasing, Guo said, adding that JN.1 is also the dominant circulating strain globally.
Meanwhile, 114,754 hospital visits for flu-like illness, 40 severe flu complications and eight flu-related deaths were reported last week, he said.
Of the severe flu cases, 30 people did not get vaccinated this flu season and six of those who died were unvaccinated, while the majority had underlying health conditions, Gou said.
CDC physician Liu Yu-cheng (劉裕誠) said one of the people who died was a three-year-old girl, who did not have underlying health conditions, but was unvaccinated and began suffering respiratory symptoms earlier this month.
She was rushed to hospital after developing a high fever and altered state of consciousness.
The girl tested positive for flu and acute encephalitis, so was admitted to an intensive care unit.
She died of respiratory failure after being hospitalized for about three weeks, making her the youngest person to die of flu this year, he said.
“She did not get vaccinated this flu season, and children are more likely than adults to develop severe complications and encephalitis from an infection,” Liu said.
The CDC reminded people to pay close attention to the warning signs of severe complications, such as difficulty breathing or cyanosis (skin, lips or nails turning blue due to a lack of oxygen), and seek medical attention immediately if they occur.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said although hospital visits for flu-like illness slightly reduced last week, both flu-like illness and COVID-19 cases are still expected to peak this week.
“We predict another wave of infections after the Lunar New Year holiday ... so we are still urging people to get the XBB.1.5-COVID-19 adapted vaccine,” Lo said, adding that a new batch of Novavax’s vaccine arrived in Taiwan on Monday and is likely to be distributed next week.
In addition, more than 580,000 packs of government-funded free COVID-19 rapid test kits had been picked up by travelers at international airports and harbors as of Thursday last week, he said.
As more people are expected to arrive via the “small three links” ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, free test kits are also to be provided at Beigan Baisha Harbor (北竿白沙港) and Nangan Fuao Harbor (南竿福澳港) starting tomorrow, he said.
In addition, the CDC is offering subsidies to hospitals willing to have doctors available to treat people with respiratory infection diseases during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 8.
Non-pediatric treatment during the Lunar New Year holiday would be subsidized at NT$10,000 per patient, while doctors treating children would be subsidized NT$15,000 per patient, it said.
There are currently 157 hospitals nationwide that would be providing the service during the holiday, Lo said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS