Taiwan on Saturday reported 68,151 new COVID-19 cases — 68,118 domestically transmitted and 33 imported cases — and 152 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Here are some of the new developments regarding the COVID-19 situation around Taiwan on Saturday:

Case peak in central, southern Taiwan expected

For the first time in nearly a month, the number of new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases reported by each city and county around Taiwan was below 10,000 on Saturday, CECC data showed.

New Taipei reported the highest number of daily new cases in Taiwan with 9,820 cases Saturday, followed by Kaohsiung with 9,657, and Taichung with 9,511. Taoyuan reported 6,926 cases, Tainan 5,631, and Taipei 5,228.

CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (???) told reporters that while cases in northern Taiwan have dropped, infections in central and southern Taiwan are expected to peak in a week.

To ensure early diagnosis and drug prescription, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (???) said the city government will test nearly 16,000 residents and workers at its 168 care facilities for seniors, youth and people with disabilities from Monday.

In Tainan, the city government will add more hospital beds for patients with moderate and severe infections, as only 108 of the 720 beds dedicated for COVID-19 were available as of Saturday, said Hsu I-lin (???), head of the city’s Public Health Bureau.

Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (???) said he expects the number of new cases to remain high for 10 days, noting that 53.2 percent of the 2,241 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients are still available.

Pingtung County reported 2,737 new domestic cases Saturday and the county’s Public Health Bureau said 97 of the 302 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients remain available, while 8,566 people are in home quarantine because they were infected and are either asymptomatic or showing only mild symptoms.

In Chiayi County, where 1,129 new cases were reported Saturday, County Magistrate Weng Chang-liang (???) said its 24-hour COVID-19 hotline has deployed Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai interpreters to help with calls from residents who moved to Taiwan from those Southeast Asian countries.

According to Chiayi County Government, 7,413 of the 20,014 people infected with COVID-19 are still in seven-day home quarantine because they were asymptomatic or showed mild symptoms, while the remainder have completed isolation at home.

New Taipei, which has the largest population of nearly 3.98 million, was the first area in Taiwan to see over 10,000 daily new cases, when the city reported 10,151 cases on May 4. The daily figure peaked at 27,230 on May 18.

Kinmen to require negative tests for high schools

Junior and senior high school students in Kinmen will have to show a negative COVID-19 rapid test result when classes resume on campus Monday, according to officials in the offshore county.

Near 4,000 rapid test kits will be distributed to students, faculty and staff at the seven junior and senior high schools in Kinmen by the end of Sunday, Kinmen County Government Secretary-general Chen Xiang-lin (???) told reporters Saturday.

Meanwhile, elementary school students in Kinmen will take online classes at home for another week, as will ninth graders, who have been asked to study at home before their graduation ceremony, the county government said earlier this week.

With the exception of Kinmen, Taipei and New Taipei, most city and county governments around Taiwan have announced extensions of online classes for elementary and high school students through June 10 or June 12, which began in late May.

Elementary and high schools in Taipei are set to resume in-person classes on June 6, unless the school decides otherwise after discussions with parents and teachers groups.

In New Taipei, 146 of 340 elementary and high schools have decided to continue online classes through June 10, the city government said Thursday.

Make-up exam for junior high students

Around 4,000 ninth graders took a make-up exam on the first day of the two-day further education exam Saturday, according to the Ministry of Education.

The make-up exam was organized because those students were in quarantine after contracting COVID-19 or having had close contact with an infected individual, when more than 190,000 ninth graders took the formal assessment test on May 21-22.

The education ministry said Saturday afternoon it had received no reports of students missing the make-up exam because of COVID-19.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel