No new cases of COVID-19 were reported yesterday, marking the 27th consecutive day without new domestic cases in Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
CECC specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said that 66,460 suspected cases have been reported from Jan. 15 to Thursday, and 440 have tested positive for the disease.
Among the infected patients, 308 (70 percent) were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, 96 (21.8 percent) had pneumonia and 36 (8.2 percent) had serious pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, he said.
Photo provided by the Central Epidemic Command Center via CNA
A total of 361 patients (82 percent) have left isolation after testing negative three consecutive times, 352 (80 percent) have been discharged from hospitals, 82 (18.6 percent) remain hospitalized and six (1.4 percent) have died, he said.
Chang said that among 24 patients who had or have depended on ventilators, as of yesterday only three remain on ventilators, and one still requires extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
No COVID-19 cases have been detected among medical practitioners and long-term care facility workers, he said, adding that expanded criteria for testing them were implemented on March 30.
“It is likely that the total number of cases [in Taiwan] would remain about the same, with maybe a few sporadic imported cases still being reported,” Chang said.
“With COVID-19’s 14-day incubation period, if no new case has been detected in local communities for two incubation periods — 28 days — from a public health perspective, we could view our communities as safe,” he said.
Taiwan has an infection rate of about 18.6 confirmed cases per 1 million people and a death rate of about 0.3 deaths per 1 million, which are lower than Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries, Chang said.
The infection rates in several European countries and the US are higher than 3,000 cases per 1 million, he added.
In other news, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that as spectators at CPBL baseball games on Friday were well-behaved in practicing personal disease prevention measures in the first two games opened to the public, the CECC is considering raising the maximum number of spectators per game from 1,000 to 2,000.
Additionally, Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that from yesterday, regulations for visitors to intensive care units, hospices and palliative care units in hospitals have been relaxed, allowing for a maximum of two visitors per hospital bed in a given visiting period.
Each hospital would determine the visiting hours, and hospitals are required to control the flow of visitors and implement disinfection measures, he said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS