TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A 15-year-old boy suddenly collapsed and died from COVID when he returned to school on May 30, marking the first teenager in Taiwan to die from the virus.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced 52,992 local COVID cases on Monday (June 6) and 151 deaths. Chou Ji-haw (周志浩), head of the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, also confirmed 31 imported cases, bringing the country's total case count to 2,457,881.
Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, explained that the 151 deaths included 84 men and 67 women, ranging in age from under 10 to their 90s. All of these patients were classified as severe cases, 146 had a history of chronic disease, 64 were not vaccinated, and 87 were over 80 years of age.
According to Lo, the center determined that the 15-year-old boy who died from COVID was the first teenager to have succumbed to the disease in Taiwan. The boy did not have any underlying conditions and had received one dose of the vaccine.
On May 20, he developed a fever and tested positive for COVID on May 22. Starting on that day, he underwent home care until May 29.
On May 30, he went back to school for the first time since his diagnosis. However, once he arrived at school, he suddenly collapsed.
As he was rushed to the hospital, his vital signs had already ceased and doctors were unable to resuscitate him. After an autopsy was conducted, forensic pathologists determined that the cause of death was viral myocarditis combined with acute pulmonary edema, cardiogenic shock, and COVID-19 infection.
Lo said that according to statistics there have been two severe COVID cases among adolescents aged 13 to 18 in Taiwan. In addition to the teenager who died from COVID, the other case was a 15-year-old girl that was reported on April 27.
She suffered from a chronic neurological condition. When infected with COVID, she developed pneumonia and respiratory distress and had to be intubated.
However, after treatment, she was extubated on May 5 and was released from isolation in mid-May.
Also on Monday, there was another COVID infant death; an eight-month-old girl with a congenital urinary tract disease. After undergoing surgical treatment on May 31, she suffered a fever and a surgical stoma was suspected to have become infected.
She was admitted to a hospital for a COVID test and surgical treatment. The result of the test was positive and she was diagnosed with the virus.
An operation was performed on June 1 and her heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen level all decreased after the procedure. Despite efforts to save the child, she was declared dead on June 2.
The cause of death was determined to be bacterial and COVID-19 infections combined with sepsis.
According to CECC statistics, there have been a total of 36 severe COVID cases under the age of 12 in Taiwan, including 17 cases of encephalitis, eight cases of pneumonia, three cases of sepsis, three cases of croup, one case that had a comorbidity (brain tumor), and four cases of death at home. Among the above cases, 16 have died, including five with encephalitis, four with pneumonia, two with sepsis, one with a comorbidity (brain tumor), and four at home.
From Jan. 1 to June 5 this year, there have been 2,369,525 local mild and asymptomatic cases, accounting for 99.68%. There were also 4,910 moderate cases, accounting for 0.21% of the total, and 2,618 severe cases, making up 0.11% of all cases.