Taiwan reported on Wednesday 24,857 new COVID-19 infections, all but 59 of which were locally transmitted, and 66 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The new cases represented a 25.1-percent drop from a week earlier, the CECC said.

The deceased ranged in age from their 40s to their 90s. All but two had underlying health issues, while 30 were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said.

Meanwhile, the CECC also reported 64 new cases classified as severe and 117 classified as moderate.

Regional breakdown

Regionally, New Taipei reported the highest number of new cases Wednesday with 4,053, followed by Kaohsiung with 3,565 and Taichung with 3,381.

Tainan reported 2,419 new cases, Taoyuan 2,343, Taipei 2,194, Changhua County 1,149, Pingtung County 889, Hsinchu County 634, Hsinchu City 610, and Yunlin County 592.

Chiayi County had 496 cases, Miaoli County 471, Nantou County 454, Yilan County 392, Keelung 348, Chiayi City 328, Hualien County 201, Taitung County 160, Kinmen 54, Penghu 48, and the Matsu islands 17, the CECC said.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 7,953,885 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 36,776 classified as imported.

With the 66 deaths reported on Wednesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 13,313.

New Moderna BA.5 vaccine

Meanwhile, the CECC said it expects to receive a shipment of 703,000 doses of the new Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday.

The vaccine, which targets both the original strain of the virus and the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, will be offered to people aged 12 and above from Nov. 18, according to the CECC.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel