Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 12,032 new cases of COVID-19 and 43 deaths from the disease on Thursday.

Among the new cases, 11,842 were contracted domestically, with local cases declining by 15.9 percent compared with the same day last week, CECC data showed.

The number of new infections was lower than the CECC’s forecast of 15,000-20,000 for the first working day since the end of 228 Peace Memorial Day long weekend Tuesday, CECC spokesperson Lo Yi-chun (???) told reporters.

Domestic cases during the seven days between Feb. 19 and 25 totaled 98,612, representing a drop of 13.8 percent compared with the preceding week’s total of 114,440, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (???) said.

Wang added that the number of domestic cases had declined steadily for four consecutive weeks beginning Jan. 29.

The daily average for infections dropped from 14,996 to 11,842 compared with the preceding week, while the average number of deaths per day declined from 56 to 43, Wang said.

Meanwhile, the CECC said there was a 1-year-old girl who developed croup after contracting the disease. She is still under treatment in an intensive care unit now, Lo said.

According to Lo, the girl is the 313th serious case in the age group of 12 and under and the 14th case of croup in that age group since 2022.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 10,069,539 COVID-19 infections and 18,010 deaths from the disease since the pandemic began in early 2020.

The CECC announced on Feb. 23 that it would stop releasing detailed daily information on new COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel