Taiwan reported 68,965 new COVID-19 cases — all but 26 domestically transmitted — and 143 deaths from the disease on Wednesday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The deceased, ranging in age from their 30s to 90s, consisted of 141 who had chronic illnesses or other severe diseases, and 64 who had been unvaccinated, the CECC said.

The CECC also said that 165 previously reported COVID-19 cases had since become severe, while 227 other patients had developed moderate symptoms of the disease.

Among the new severe cases are two children and a teenager who were each diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome-children (MIS-C), one child with encephalitis, and one with bronchiolitis.

Of the 2,975,309 domestic cases reported in Taiwan this year, 4,351 have been classified as severe infections and 6,768 as moderate, accounting for 0.14 percent and 0.23 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data as of June 14.

In all other cases, the patients were either asymptomatic or had mild infections, the CECC said.

Taichung reported the highest number of domestic cases Wednesday, with 10,756, followed by Kaohsiung with 10,001, and New Taipei with 8,348.

Tainan reported 6,987 cases, Taoyuan 5,845, Changhua County 5,541, Taipei 4,387, Pingtung County 3,150, Yunlin County 1,716, Miaoli County 1,676, Hsinchu County 1,552, Nantou County 1,486, and Chiayi County 1,283.

Hsinchu City recorded 1,227 cases, Yilan County 1,221, Hualien County 901, Keelung 837, Taitung County 789, Chiayi City 783, Penghu County 279, Kinmen County 141, and Matsu Islands 33.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 3,072,432 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 3,058,818 domestic infections.

With the 143 deaths reported Wednesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 4,546, CECC data showed.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel