The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 44,467 new local COVID-19 cases, the 13th consecutive day that the daily caseload has exceeded the previous week’s figure.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said that 67 imported cases and 76 deaths were also confirmed yesterday.
The daily caseload was 12.3 percent lower than Friday, but 3.3 percent higher than that on Saturday last week, he said.
New Taipei City reported the most cases at 8,826, followed by Taichung at 5,375, Taipei at 4,879, Taoyuan at 4,630, Kaohsiung at 4,520, Tainan at 3,231 and Changhua County at 2,303, CECC data showed.
Of the 76 deaths, 71 people had underlying health conditions, and 50 had not received a vaccine booster, the data showed.
As of Friday, 6,732,753 local cases had been reported in Taiwan so far this year, 99.56 percent of which were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, Chuang said, adding that 0.25 percent were moderate cases and 0.19 percent were severe, including 10,611 deaths.
He said that 5,326 children between the ages of six months and four years received a vaccine shot on Friday, bringing the first and second dose vaccination rates for the age group to 40.4 percent and 10.5 percent respectively.
Getting vaccinated can reduce the risk of severe illness and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after acute infection, Chuang said, adding that 239 cases of severe COVID-19 in children have been confirmed this year.
They include 154 cases of MIS-C, 32 of encephalitis, 25 of pneumonia, 11 of croup, eight of death at home, four of comorbidities, three of septicemia and two of myocarditis, he said, adding that there were 35 deaths among them.
News Web site ETtoday asked about the 76 deaths, as the figure was the highest in 78 days.
Chuang said the daily caseload is still at a plateau, but the daily death figure is a lagging indicator, so the increase in deaths reflected a surge of new local cases in the middle of last month.
He urged people to take a rapid test at home if they experience suspected COVID-19 symptoms and seek medical attention immediately if they test positive.
People with increased risk of severe complications should take oral antiviral drugs as soon as possible to reduce the risk of death, Chuang said.
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