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CECC adds Kaohsiung, Hualien to high-risk COVID-19 areas

ROC Central News Agency

04/15/2022 04:57 PM

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday added Hualien County in eastern Taiwan and Kaohsiung City in the south to a list of high-risk COVID-19 areas, as the country set a single-day high of 1,209 new domestic COVID-19 cases.

It means the administrative areas join New Taipei, Taipei, Taoyuan and Keelung in the north as designated local authorities that have been given priority in acquiring COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits from the central government to scale up testing, according to the CECC.

Of the cases reported Friday, New Taipei recorded the highest number, with 328, Taoyuan had 290, Hualien 146, Taipei 140, Kaohsiung 58 and Keelung 48, the CECC said.

It was also the first time new domestic cases have exceeded 1,000 in a single day since the pandemic began, rising nearly 40 percent from the 874 domestic cases reported a day earlier.

The figures do not include imported cases reclassified as domestic ones, nor retroactively removed cases. As of April 15, Taiwan recorded 7,752 domestic cases in 2022, while the total number of imported cases rose to 9,448 from 2,375 on Dec. 31.

In addition, 10 new moderate or serious COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the total to 29 for the year.

The CECC said that among the 10 cases -- aged 40-80 years old -- six were not fully vaccinated, while two had received three shots.

None of the patients are in intensive care, the CECC said.

While one individual has already been released from quarantine, the others remain hospitalized in stable conditions, it added.

Of the 6,543 domestic COVID-19 cases recorded nationwide this year from Jan. 1 to April 14, 27 have been classified as moderate infections and two as severe, while the others, accounting for 99.56 percent of the total, were either mild or asymptomatic, according to the CECC.

1. More doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BNT vaccine have been administered in Taiwan than the government has officially received because recipients of the Moderna booster shot are given half the standard dose of the first and second jab, while medical workers can sometimes get more than the standard number of shots from a Pfizer-BNT vial. 2. Information about the booster dose and additional dose can be found at https://t.ly/4ZuW

Taiwan also reported 75 new imported cases on Friday, of which 68 were travelers who tested positive on arrival in the country, according to the CECC.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 31,857 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, including 22,355 domestically transmitted infections, according to CECC data.

With no deaths reported Friday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remained at 854, the data showed.

(By Chang Ming-hsuan and Lee Hsin-Yin)

Enditem/AW