Taiwan records no new domestic COVID cases for first time in 3 months
ROC Central News Agency
08/25/2021 08:19 PM
Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Taiwan on Wednesday reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections for the first time since mid-May, when a surge in domestic cases began, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
At a CECC press briefing, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that despite the good news, the country still has a way to go before its COVID-19 alert can be lifted.
While the COVID-19 situation has been brought under control in Taiwan, the threats from outside its borders still remain, due to the current global outbreak caused by the Delta variant of the virus, Chen said.
With that in mind, he said, the CECC needs to gauge the situation and determine whether the current nationwide Level 2 alert, which extends to Sept. 6, should be lifted after that date.
Taiwan also confirmed one new imported COVID-19 case on Wednesday -- a South African in his 20s, who arrived on Aug. 22 for work and presented a negative COVID-19 test upon entry, the CECC said.
The new case brought the total in Taiwan to 15,939, of which 14,343 were domestic infections reported since May 15, when the country first recorded more than 100 COVID-19 cases in a single day.
Taiwan also registered one new COVID-19 death on Wednesday, raising its death toll from the disease to 830, including 818 reported since May 15.
Meanwhile, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that another three people have died after receiving their first dose of the locally produced Medigen vaccine, following one such death on Tuesday.
One of the three new deaths was a Taoyuan resident in his 40s who suffered from diabetes and obesity, Chuang said.
The man passed out and lost vital signs while he was at work Wednesday, two days after being vaccinated, and he died on the way to hospital, Chuang said.
Another man, a New Taipei resident in his 30s who had a history of illicit drug use, died Tuesday, one day after receiving the Medigen vaccine, Chuang said.
The man was found without a pulse at noon Tuesday, and he died in hospital, hours after he had taken illicit drugs, Chuang said, citing the man's family.
The third death was a woman in her 40s, a Keelung resident who developed chest pains and numbness in her limbs after receiving the Medigen jab Tuesday, and she went to National Taiwan University Hospital, where she died the same day, according to CECC advisor Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳).
At the hospital, a CT showed that the woman had suffered aortic dissection, a serious condition in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the body's main artery, Chang said.
The death of three recipients of the Medigen vaccine are not included in the statistics compiled by the CECC as of 4 p.m. Tuesday. More AstraZeneca doses have been administered than have been officially received because medical workers can sometimes get more than the standard 10 shots from a vial.
Since the rollout of the Medigen vaccine began in Taiwan on Monday, there have been four deaths among its 286,957 recipients, according to CECC data.
However, the actual cause of death of the four people cannot be confirmed until the autopsies are performed, according to Chuang.
Prior to Wednesday, a total of 660 people had died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in Taiwan, 540 of them recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 119 recipients of the Moderna brand, according to CECC data.
So far, the autopsy reports have shown no links between any of those deaths and COVID-19 vaccines, the CECC said.
As of Wednesday, 9.6 million people in Taiwan, or 40 percent of the population, had received their first jab, while 802,657 people, or 3.4 percent, had obtained the two shots needed to be fully vaccinated, CECC data showed.
(By Teng Pei-ju)
Enditem/pc
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