The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 21,056 local COVID-19 cases, 233 imported cases and 40 deaths from the disease.
The center also confirmed that four unvaccinated children had developed severe COVID-19 symptoms.
The largest number of new cases was in New Taipei City, with 4,082, followed by Taichung with 2,534, Taipei with 2,439, Taoyuan with 2,327, Kaohsiung with 1,744, Tainan with 1,507, and fewer than 1,000 cases in each of the 16 other cities or counties, CECC data showed.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said the daily local caseload dropped 3.2 percent from Friday, but increased 6.6 percent from Saturday last week.
He said 149,567 local cases had been reported from Sunday to yesterday, up 0.9 percent from the previous seven-day period, so the COVID-19 situation “remained constant.”
A total of 4,809,044 local cases have been reported this year, he said.
With 106 new moderate or severe cases confirmed yesterday, 22,224 such cases have been confirmed this year, including 8,560 deaths, he said, adding that 99.53 percent of all COVID-19 cases were asymptomatic or mild.
Chuang said that as of Friday, 125,179 children aged six months to four years had received a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 15.8 percent of the age group.
The newly reported severe cases include a one-year-old unvaccinated boy, who developed a fever, shortness of breath and noisy breathing on Tuesday, and was diagnosed with COVID-19 that evening, Chuang said.
After experiencing respiratory distress the next day, the boy was rushed to an emergency room, Chuang said, adding that he was admitted to an intensive care unit and put on a ventilator.
Another newly reported severe case is a two-year-old boy, who has a medical record of febrile convulsion, Chuang said.
The boy tested positive for COVID-19 on July 6 and was confirmed to have multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) on Friday last week, Chuang said, adding that his initial symptoms included a fever, convulsions, a dry cough and shortness of breath, and he later also developed pneumonia, rashes, red lips and conjunctivitis.
Another new MIS-C case is a three-year-old boy with no chronic disease, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on May 19, Chuang said.
The boy on Sunday developed symptoms including rashes, red eyes and a fever, Chuang said, adding that has been hospitalized since Wednesday.
Another new MIS-C case is a five-year-old boy, who also has no underlying health issues, Chuang said.
The boy tested positive on June 19, and on July 20 developed a fever and loss of vitality and appetite, Chuang said.
He was admitted to hospital, where he was diagnosed with tonsillitis, conjunctivitis and dilated coronary arteries, Chuang said, adding that he was later discharged.
The new severe cases among children brought this year’s total of such cases to 166, including 96 with MIS-C, 27 with encephalitis, 21 with pneumonia and nine with croup, he said, adding that 27 of the children had died.
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