The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 23,556 new local COVID-19 infections and 31 deaths, and said that 3,147 people have sought treatment under the government’s post-COVID-19 recovery program, with nearly half of them aged 31 to 50.
The nation’s daily local caseload has fallen 6 percent from Tuesday last week, although case numbers are still declining slowly, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, adding that 253 imported cases were also reported yesterday.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division, said the center had confirmed 54 moderate and 30 severe cases of COVID-19, including two children who had developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
Photo: CNA
One of the children is a seven-year-old boy who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on May 31, but on Tuesday last week developed a fever, rashes and red eyes, and on Friday was rushed to an emergency room, where staff found he had low blood pressure and a bleeding disorder, Lo said.
The other is an eight-year-old boy who was diagnosed with the virus on May 19, and developed a fever, rashes, red eyes, neck pain and loss of appetite on Tuesday last week, he said, adding that the child was taken to an emergency room the next day.
Neither child has an underlying health condition, but both are unvaccinated, Lo said, adding that they are being treated in intensive care units.
To help people who experience long-term symptoms after an acute COVID-19 infection, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) in December last year launched a post-COVID-19 recovery program, providing multidisciplinary outpatient and inpatient integrated healthcare services to people who had contracted the virus in the past six months.
NHIA Senior Executive Officer Chang Tso-chen (張作貞) said that as of Monday, 108 hospitals were providing post-COVID-19 care as part of the program, with at least one in each county or city, except for Lienchiang County.
As of 3pm on Monday, 3,174 people has sought medical attention through the recovery program, she said, adding that most were in Taipei with 1,243 cases, followed by New Taipei City with 525 and Taichung with 428.
Chang said that 23 percent of people who sought treatment under the program were aged 31 to 40, while 22 percent were aged 41 to 50.
The contracted hospitals in the program decide how many outpatient clinics they will provide each week, based on their resources, but if demand increases as the outbreak slows, the NHIA would encourage the hospitals to open up more clinics, she said, adding that people can find clinics on the administration’s Web site.
As of Monday, the nation’s first and second-dose vaccination coverage has reached 92 and 85.9 percent respectively, while the first and second booster vaccination rates have reached 71.4 and 7.4 percent respectively, Chuang said.
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