The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 34,748 new local COVID-19 infections, 79 imported cases, 96 deaths and 333 moderate to severe cases.
Of the local cases, the most were reported in Taichung with 4,952, followed by New Taipei City with 4,738, Kaohsiung with 4,397, Taoyuan with 3,467, Tainan with 3,001, Taipei with 2,652, Changhua with 1,377, Yunlin with 1,036, and 13 counties and cities with fewer than 1,000 cases each, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman.
As of Friday, 16,337 moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 and 6,015 deaths had been reported this year, Chuang said.
Photo: CNA
Among the 3,773,671 local cases reported this year, 99.56 percent were asymptomatic or mild, he said.
Moderate and severe cases accounted for 0.25 and 0.19 percent of the total, CECC data showed.
Of yesterday’s 96 reported deaths, 90 had underlying health conditions, 61 did not receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot and 50 were aged 80 or older. The youngest person who died was 40.
The moderate to severe cases included seven children younger than 10, one person aged between 10 and 19 and three people in their 30s, the center’s data showed.
The vacancy rate of hospital beds in COVID-19-designated hospital rooms was 56.1 percent as of 7am yesterday, and the lowest rate was 50.4 percent in southern Taiwan, the data showed.
Chuang said that 87,589 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered on Friday, bringing the nation’s first, second and booster vaccination rates to 91.32, 83.9 and 70.3 percent respectively.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, on Wednesday said that the first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months to five years was originally set to arrive on Thursday, but was delayed due to issues with documentation.
Chuang yesterday said that the delivery is still being arranged and the shipment is expected to arrive next week, but as standard samples of the vaccine were not provided in advance for testing, the batch of vaccines would take about two weeks for lot release testing before they can be administered.
The center expects to start administering the vaccines between the middle and end of the month, he said.
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