CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan reports 50,828 new COVID-19 cases, 12 deaths

05/10/2022 03:58 PM

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Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung at Tuesday's COVID-19 press briefing. Photo courtesy of the CECC

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) Taiwan's single-day COVID-19 cases exceeded 50,000 for the first time on Tuesday, as it recorded 50,828 new cases and 12 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The new cases comprised 50,780 domestically transmitted infections and 48 contracted abroad, the CECC said.

The 12 people who died of COVID-19 complications were eight men and four women in their 20s to 90s. They tested positive between April 28 and May 8, and passed away between May 6 and May 8, according to CECC data.

The youngest was a New Taipei woman in her 20s who had been inoculated with one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. She had a history of asthma and anemia, CECC data showed.

The patient developed symptoms on May 3 and was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 on May 4, before passing away on May 6, the CECC said.

Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy director-general of Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control, said at the CECC press briefing that the woman was roughly 30 weeks pregnant and had difficulty breathing after she was infected with COVID-19.

Doctors performed an emergency C-section to try to save the child, but they were unable to resuscitate the baby, Lo said, adding that the mother subsequently died Saturday.

Investigation showed that the woman died from acute pulmonary embolism and COVID-19.

The figures do not include imported cases reclassified as domestic ones, nor retroactively removed cases. As of May 10, Taiwan recorded 421,713 domestic cases in 2022, while the total number of imported cases rose to 11,963 from 2,396 on Jan. 1.

The remaining 11 patients who died were over 50 years old and most had underlying medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and cancer, according to CECC data.

Only three of the 11 never received any dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while the rest had been inoculated with at least one dose, CECC data showed.

The CECC also reported Tuesday that 34 patients had developed moderate symptoms and 14 had developed severe symptoms.

Of the 370,933 domestic cases recorded in Taiwan from Jan. 1 to May 9, 689 have been classified as moderate infections and 136 as severe, accounting for 0.19 percent and 0.04 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data.

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

More doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered in Taiwan than the government has officially received because recipients of the Moderna booster shot are given half the standard dose of the first and second jab.

For Tuesday, New Taipei reported the highest number of domestic cases -- 16,906 -- followed by Taipei with 10,283, Taoyuan with 7,006, Taichung with 3,346, and Kaohsiung with 2,552.

Tainan reported 1,774 cases, Keelung 1,734, Yilan County 1,279, Hsinchu County 933, Hualien County 759, Changhua County 736, Pingtung County 680, Hsinchu City 658, Yunlin County 620, Miaoli County 523, Nantou County 307, Taitung County 222, and Chiayi County 216, and Chiayi City 138.

Penghu County reported 64 cases, Kinmen County 43, and Matsu Islands one.

Meanwhile, of the 48 new imported cases, 43 were travelers who tested positive on arrival in Taiwan, according to the CECC.