Taiwan reported 35,654 new COVID-19 infections, including 53 imported cases, and 52 deaths from the disease on Saturday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The deaths involved people in their 20s to their 90s. All but six had underlying health issues, and 25 of them were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said.

The youngest death was a man in his 20s who had not been vaccinated against the disease, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said in a pre-recorded video.

He had a history of neurological disease and was hospitalized after displaying symptoms of fever and cough on Oct. 13, Chuang said, noting that the man died on Oct. 16 due to respiratory failure, septic shock and confirmed COVID-19.

As of Saturday, the total number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country since the start of the pandemic had climbed to 12,258.

One MIS-C case

The CECC also reported 85 COVID-19 infections classified as moderate and 68 as severe, including one case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).

The MIS-C case is a 1-year-old boy who has no known underlying health issues and had symptoms of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection with bronchiolitis, the CECC said.

The young patient’s condition has since improved and he was discharged from hospital on Oct. 17, according to the CECC.

So far, there have been 164 reported cases of MIS-C among 252 children in Taiwan aged 12 and under who have contracted severe COVID-19 infections, the CECC said, noting that the new MIS-C case is the 101st among children under 5 years old.

Regional breakdown

On Saturday, New Taipei reported the highest number of new COVID-19 infections, with 6,386, while Taichung had 4,544, Kaohsiung 4,192, Taoyuan 3,623, Taipei 3,348, and Tainan 3,086, according to the CECC.

Changhua County recorded 1,937 cases, Pingtung County 1,117, Hsinchu County 919, Yunlin County 862, Miaoli County 820, Hsinchu City 802, Nantou County 726 and Chiayi County 672.

Yilan County reported 576 cases, Keelung 508, Hualien County 473, Chiayi City 458, Taitung County 243, Kinmen County 159, Penghu County 132 and the Matsu Islands 18, according to CECC data.

Taiwan has recorded 7,414,829 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 36,008 classified as imported.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel