The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 40,293 local COVID-19 cases, a 17 percent day-to-day drop, with only three cities confirming more than 5,000 new cases.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that 151 deaths and 105 imported cases related to the virus were also confirmed.
Taichung reported the most local cases with 6,075, followed by Kaohsiung with 5,567, New Taipei City with 5,142, Tainan with 3,603, Taoyuan with 3,272, Changhua with 3,068, Taipei with 1,759, Yunlin with 1,291 and Hsinchu County with 1,015, while 12 cities and counties reported case counts ranging from 22 to 983.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government via CNA
As of Friday, 3,504,558 local infections had been reported this year, including 14,522 people who had moderate-to-severe symptoms of COVID-19, 325 of which were new, Chuang said, adding that 99.58 percent of cases were mild or asymptomatic.
A total of 5,267 deaths were reported this year, he said.
Of yesterday’s confirmed deaths, 140 people had cancer or other underlying health conditions, 96 had not received a vaccine booster shot and 80 were aged 80 or older, he said.
The youngest death was an unvaccinated woman in her 30s who had metastatic breast cancer, Chuang said.
She tested positive for COVID-19 on June 4, and died of pneumonia and cancer on June 12, he said.
Although the daily caseload fell by about 17 percent yesterday, Chuang said daily new cases are usually the lowest between Friday and Monday, and the highest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but the center expects caseloads to remain between 30,000 and 50,000 in the following days.
He said the nation’s first, second and booster dose vaccination rates have reached 91.24, 82.98 and 69.9 percent respectively, as of Friday.
The nationwide vacancy rate of COVID-19-designated hospital beds was 50 percent as of 7am yesterday, with southern Taiwan reporting the lowest vacancy rate at 38.6 percent, and eastern Taiwan the highest at 67.2 percent, CECC data showed.
Meanwhile, at a COVID-19 prevention meeting at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning, the CECC reported that as of Thursday, the first-dose vaccination rate among children aged 5 to 11 was 74.7 percent, and the booster dose vaccination rate in adolescents aged 12 to 17 was 52.2 percent.
The first, second and booster vaccination rates among people aged 75 or older were 80.1, 75.2 and 64.2 percent respectively, it said.
The center also reported that 450,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive early next month, which could be offered to 900,000 children aged six months to five years, while the center continues to negotiate a contract for purchasing doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged six months to four years.
As vaccinations of children aged six months to five years have not started, children six years old or younger should be offered another free pack of five COVID-19 rapid test kits in the next round of the test rationing program starting on Friday, the center said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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