Taiwan reported 25,583 new cases of COVID-19 and 28 deaths from the disease on Monday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The deceased ranged in age from their 60s to their 90s. All but four suffered from chronic illnesses or other severe diseases, and 14 were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said.
Second death linked to BA.5
Meanwhile, Taiwan also reported a second patient who recently died from the Omicron BA.5 COVID-19 subvariant this year.
The deceased was a woman in her 60s who had a history of chronic illness such as diabetes and had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said at the press briefing.
She died three days after having recently been diagnosed with the disease, Lo said, noting that her death was already included in the COVID-19 fatality count on Sept. 9.
Weekly update of new BA.5 cases
Taiwan also confirmed on Monday 88 new domestic cases of the BA.5 subvariant of the disease, of which 45 were reported in the north, 34 in the central part of the country, while eight were in the south and one in the east, he said.
To date, the country has seen a total of 324 patients diagnosed with the domestically-transmitted BA.5 Omicron subvariant of COVID-19, according to the CECC.
Also on Monday, the CECC reported 24 cases newly classified as severe and 20 as moderate.
Of the 5,636,814 domestically transmitted cases recorded in Taiwan this year, 11,006 have been classified as severe infections, and 14,148 as moderate, accounting for 0.20 percent and 0.25 percent of the total, respectively, according to CECC data as of Sept. 11.
Regional breakdown
Regionally, New Taipei reported the highest number of new cases on Monday, with 5,205, followed by Taipei with 3,006 and Taichung with 2,946.
Taoyuan had 2,699 new cases, Kaohsiung 2,054, Tainan 1,549, Changhua County 1,309, Hsinchu County 823, Pingtung County 735, Hsinchu City 635, Yilan County 602, Nantou County 594, Miaoli County 564, Yunlin County 562, Keelung 510 and Hualien County 468.
Chiayi County had 355 cases, Chiayi City 234, Taitung County 206, Kinmen 147, Penghu 121, and the Matsu Islands 22, the CECC said.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 5,707,688 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 5,676,735 domestic cases.
With the 28 deaths reported Monday, the number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 10,312.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel