The nation’s COVID-19 outbreak has entered the “mass community spread” stage, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 90,331 new local infections, topping 90,000 daily cases for the first time.
In a report to the legislature, the ministry said that Taiwan reported 475,497 new COVID-19 infections from Thursday last week to Wednesday, marking “a significant increase” over the 302,597 cases recorded over the previous seven-day period.
The rising case numbers indicate that the nation has entered the “mass community spread” stage of the disease, the ministry said, adding that imported cases have dropped in the last week, but “remain a risk.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The ministry said in a statement that it expects the outbreak to peak this month, adding that it would work closely with local governments to prepare for any changes in the situation.
“Taiwan is on the road to living with [the virus]. The government will gradually ease strict prevention measures, while continuing to consider risk controls and maintaining public health capacity,” it said.
The trajectories of COVID-19 outbreaks in Asian countries have resembled “hills,” with multiple ups and downs, rather than a single and sharply defined peak, National Taiwan University Hospital infectious diseases specialist Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎), who is the convener of the ministry’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said in a radio interview yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
This type of epidemic curve is often the result of a stronger government response, as well as social behaviors, Lee said, citing Taiwan’s recent drop in restaurant dining and movie theater attendance as an example.
While these factors help prevent a collapse in medical capacity, they also mean the outbreak would last longer than in places such as Europe and the US, he said.
Taiwan’s COVID-19 situation would probably begin to ease around the middle of next month, although it could take an additional three to four months, possibly until September, before life returns to normal, he added.
Yesterday’s daily local caseload brought the total number of domestic cases to more than 1 million since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, the CECC said.
It reported 59 deaths, 31 of whom were unvaccinated.
All but one of those who died had chronic illnesses or severe diseases such as cancer, while the youngest among them, a man in his 30s, had a nervous system disease, it said.
New Taipei City reported the highest number of new cases — 24,826 — followed by Taoyuan with 13,827, Taipei with 12,060, Taichung with 7,444 and Kaohsiung with 6,576.
Tainan reported 4,795 cases, Hsinchu County 2,702, Keelung 2,530, Changhua County 2,313, Yilan County 2,144, Pingtung County 2,142, Hsinchu City 1,877, Miaoli County 1,513, Hualien County 1,345, Yunlin County 1,048, Nantou County 1,026, Taitung County 692, Chiayi County 664 and Chiayi City 462.
Penghu County reported 186, Kinmen County 137 and Lienchiang County 22.
The CECC added that 191 previously recorded COVID-19 infections had developed into severe or moderate cases.
As of Wednesday, 483 of the nation’s 954,139 domestic cases reported this year have been classified as severe infections and 1,541 as moderate, accounting for 0.05 and 0.16 percent of the total respectively, CECC data showed.
In all the other cases, the patients were either asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms, it said.
So far, 341 people have died from COVID-19 this year, and 1,235 since the pandemic began, the data showed.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai