Taiwan’s Level 3 COVID alert will likely be extended, rather than allowed to expire on May 28. Health minister Chen Shih-chung said Monday that discussions were underway on extending the pandemic alert, due to the continued rise of COVID cases. On Monday, the CECC reported 334 local COVID cases and six deaths. It also added 256 cases to the counts of previous days, saying the delay was caused by a reporting backlog of confirmed test results. Let’s hear from the CECC.
Chen Shih-chung
CECC
Today we have 334 local infections and 256 backlogged cases. Adding in imported cases, we have a total of 595 cases. Of the 334 local cases from today, 157 were men and 177 women. They developed symptoms between May 10 and May 23. New Taipei registered the most new cases, 177, of which 43 were reported in Banqiao District. The second highest caseload was reported in Taipei, with 99 cases, of which 38 were registered in Wanhua District. As for the 256 backlogged cases, we have 157 men and 99 women. They had developed symptoms between May 14 and May 22. In this group, Taipei reported the highest number of cases, 148, of which 76 were reported in Wanhua District. The second highest tally was in New Taipei, which had 99 cases, 34 of which were in Banqiao District. The six people who died were in their 60s and 70s and four of them had chronic illnesses. Patient #1,860 was a woman in her 70s who had a history of chronic conditions including stomach cancer. Patient #2,476 was a man in his 70s who had a malign tumor in his tonsils. Case #2,825 was a man in his 60s who had high blood pressure and cirrhosis. Case #4,162 was a woman in her 60s who had diabetes and chronic hepatitis B.
The virus has now spread to every city and county except Taitung. Looking back at the outbreak so far, infections surged to a peak on May 17, with 476 people testing positive. In the five days since then, the daily case count has ranged between 380 and 430 cases, with no clear downward trend.
