TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) confirmed 41,430 local COVID cases on Friday (Sept. 16), 240 imported cases, and 46 deaths.
The number of local cases increased by approximately 20% from the same period last week, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-Hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, confirmed five new cases this week of children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) after a COVID-19 infection and two cases of young children developing severe symptoms. One was encephalitis and the other was pneumonia.
Among the seven new cases of developing MIS-C and severe symptoms in the week ending Sept. 16, only one had been vaccinated. As of Friday, 211 children had developed severe symptoms after their COVID-19 infections and 86% had not been vaccinated.
At Friday's press briefing, CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) announced the first batch of a new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna, which targets the Omicron variant, is set to arrive Friday evening. The first batch of 804,000 doses of Moderna is expected to start delivery on Sept. 24, with the elderly aged at 65 and above, nursing facility residents, and those diagnosed with a weak immune system eligible to receive the shot as a booster.
Local cases
Local cases included 19,028 males, 22,389 females, and 13 cases still under investigation, ranging in age from under 5 to their 90s.
New Taipei City reported 8,942 cases, followed by 5,294 in Taichung City, 4,904 in Taipei City, 4,455 in Taoyuan City, 3,396 in Kaohsiung City, 2,500 in Tainan City, 1,892 in Changhua County, 1,251 in Hsinchu County, 1,121 in Pingtung County, 1,008 in Miaoli County, 984 in Hsinchu City, 971 in Yilan County, 894 Yunlin County, 808 in Keelung City, 748 in Nantou County, 660 in Hualien County, 582 in Chiayi County, 371 in Chiayi City, 326 in Taitung County, 163 in Kinmen County, 142 in Penghu County, and 18 in Lienchiang County.
COVID deaths
The 46 deaths announced on Friday included 28 males and 18 females ranging in age from their 30s to 90s. All of these individuals were classified as severe cases and had a history of chronic disease, and 27 had not received the third dose of a COVID vaccine. Their dates of diagnosis and death ranged from July 20 to Sept. 13.
Imported cases
The 240 imported cases included 142 males and 98 females, ranging in age from under 5 to their 80s.
Total COVID case statistics
Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has confirmed 5,891,355 cases, of which 5,859,575 were local and 31,726 were imported. So far, 10,469 individuals have succumbed to the disease, with 16 deaths reported among imported cases.
