The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said it would ask hospitals to increase the percentage of beds designated for COVID-19 patients in response to a rise in local cases.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that 31,178 new local COVID-19 cases, 310 imported cases and 27 deaths were confirmed yesterday.
The local caseload increased by 5,083 cases, or 19.5 percent, compared with Tuesday last week, but is within the range expected by the CECC, he said.
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
The most cases were reported in New Taipei City with 6,631, followed by Taipei with 3,896, Taichung with 3,761, Taoyuan with 3,138, Kaohsiung with 2,573, Tainan with 2,026, Changhua County with 1,320, and fewer than 1,000 cases each in the 15 other administrative regions, CECC data showed.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that as the average vacancy rate of designated COVID-19 hospital beds nationwide is at 60.1 percent, but only 37.8 percent in Taipei and New Taipei City, a meeting was held yesterday morning to discuss adjustments for COVID-19 hospital beds.
COVID-19 response hospitals would be asked to increase COVID-19 beds to at least 15 to 20 percent of their total and to at least 25 to 30 percent of those in Taipei and New Taipei City, he said.
Hospitals with more than 500 beds have reserved 5 to 10 percent of them for COVID-19 patients, but hospitals in Taipei and New Taipei City would be asked to increase that percentage to at least 10 to 15 percent, and those in Taoyuan, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties to at least 10 percent, he said.
Among the deceased reported yesterday, 26 had chronic diseases and 17 did not have a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, Lo said.
The youngest was a woman in her 30s who had iron-deficiency anemia and tested positive for COVID-19 on June 30, he said.
After she was hospitalized on July 3, doctors discovered she had metastatic cancer, and she died of septic shock on July 17.
As COVID-19 was added as the main contributing cause to her death, the case was reported and confirmed yesterday, he said.
Lo said that as the local spread of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is driving an increase in case numbers, the daily number of COVID-19 antiviral drug prescriptions have also begun to rise — to 5,174 courses prescribed yesterday, the most since July 17.
He said there is still an adequate amount of antivirals in reserve, including about 306,000 courses of Paxlovid, enough for an estimated 127 days, and 116,000 courses of molnupiravir, enough for an estimated 231 days.
The nation’s first and second booster vaccination rates among older people has reached 75.5 and 33.7 percent respectively, Chuang said.
As about 30 percent of older people are eligible for the second booster shot, but have not received it, the center is encouraging them to get one for better protection against severe illness, he said.
Despite an increase in cases, Lo said that community testing stations would not be reopened, adding that a doctor can make a COVID-19 diagnosis based on a positive result from a rapid test.
The center does not recommend going to a hospital to be tested for genome sequencing, as the treatment for the Omicron BA.2 and BA.5 subvariants are the same, and most people’s symptoms would likely have ended before the results come back, he said.
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
The Philippines would likely be involved in any conflict over Taiwan due to its proximity to the democracy claimed by China, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said, reiterating a stance that risks angering Beijing. “In the Philippines, we do not have a choice because Taiwan is so close to the Philippines and we have almost 200,000 Filipino nationals living and working in Taiwan,” Marcos said in an interview with Japanese media in Manila on Monday. The Philippine leader’s comments come ahead of a state visit to Japan next week, where he is to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to discuss security
RSS