Taiwan on Tuesday recorded 80,705 new COVID-19 cases — 80,656 domestically transmitted and 49 imported — and 90 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The 90 deaths reported Tuesday ranged in age from their 40s to 90s, including 86 who had chronic illnesses or other severe diseases. Among the death cases, 44 had not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, the CECC said.
The CECC also said Tuesday that 82 previously reported COVID-19 cases had since developed severe infections, while 108 other patients had developed moderate symptoms of the disease.
One of the severe infections is a 1-year-old boy who developed laryngotracheobronchitis and later recovered, Lo Yi-chun (???), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said at a CECC press briefing.
After developing a fever of 38 degrees Celsius and cough on May 18, the boy was taken to a hospital emergency room where he was confirmed as having COVID-19 on May 18, Lo said.
The boy was sent home with medication but returned to the hospital emergency room on May 20 after his oxygen level dropped to only 70 percent, Lo said, adding that the boy had not shown signs of pneumonia when x-rayed.
Lo said that the boy was initially intubated and treated with the antiviral medication remdesivir upon admission to intensive care on May 20.
After the boy’s condition improved, he was taken off artificial ventilation on May 25 and discharged from hospital on May 28, Lo said.
The boy was in hospital for a total of eight days and is the second case in Taiwan of a child developing laryngotracheobronchitis after being infected with COVID-19, Lo said.
“The good news is that both cases have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital,” Lo said.
The other previously reported case was a child under the age of 1 who was discharged from hospital on May 22.
A total of 26 children in Taiwan aged 12 or younger infected with COVID-19 this year have developed severe complications from the disease, including 14 who developed encephalitis, Lo said.
Of the 1,924,756 domestic cases recorded in Taiwan this year, 1,683 have been classified as severe infections and 3,792 as moderate, accounting for 0.09 percent and 0.20 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data valid as of May 30.
All of the other new cases were either asymptomatic or had mild infections, the CECC said.
New Taipei reported the highest number of domestic cases on Tuesday, with 14,372, followed by Taichung with 10,586, and Kaohsiung with 10,380.
Taoyuan reported 7,826 cases, Taipei 6,707, Tainan 6,485, Changhua County 4,740, Pingtung County 2,960, Hsinchu County 2,064 Miaoli County 1,970, Hsinchu City 1,734, Yilan County 1,649, Keelung 1,631, and Yunlin County 1,610.
Nantou County reported 1,381, Hualien County 1,295 cases, Chiayi County 1,146, Taitung County 866, Chiayi City 776, Penghu County 263, Kinmen County 206, and Matsu Islands nine.
Meanwhile, 18 of Tuesday’s 49 imported cases were travelers who tested positive upon arrival in Taiwan, according to the CECC.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 2,032,983 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 2,019,941 domestic infections.
With the 90 deaths reported Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 2,255, of which 1,402 were reported this year, CECC data showed.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel