Taiwan yesterday reported 39,808 new COVID-19 infections, including 45 imported cases, and 92 deaths from the disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
The fatalities reported yesterday included the largest number of deaths reported in a single day from the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, the center said, adding that the deceased were aged from their 30s to their 90s.
The CECC said that 30 of those who died were unvaccinated against COVID-19.
Photo: CNA
As of yesterday, the number of COVID-19 fatalities in the country since the start of the pandemic in 2020 stood at 12,128, CECC data showed.
Even though the number of new domestic cases dropped 25.5 percent from Thursday last week, people should not let their guard down and continue to adhere to disease prevention rules, the CECC said.
The center said that 124 cases were newly classified as moderate and 80 as severe, including two cases involving multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
The MIS-C cases are a fully vaccinated five-year-old boy with a congenital heart defect and a fully vaccinated nine-year-old girl with no underlying health issues, the center said.
The two children have been discharged from hospital after responding well to treatment, it said.
New Taipei City reported the most new COVID-19 cases, with 7,431, followed by Taichung with 5,196, Kaohsiung with 4,687, Taoyuan with 4,062, Taipei with 3,781 and Tainan with 3,394, the CECC said.
Changhua County recorded 2,191 cases, Pingtung County 1,384, Hsinchu County 909, Yunlin County 869, Hsinchu City 869, Miaoli County 828, Nantou County 728 and Yilan County 686, it said.
Chiayi County reported 684 cases, Keelung 552, Hualien County 480, Chiayi City 468, Taitung County 269, Kinmen County 139, Penghu County 136 and Lienchiang County 20, it said.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 7,341,966 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, including 35,899 classified as imported, CECC data showed.
A Taiwanese software developer has created a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model to help people use AI without exposing sensitive data, project head Huang Chung-hsiao (黃崇校) said yesterday. Huang, a 55-year-old coder leading a US-based team, said that concerns over data privacy and security in popular generative AIs such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek motivated him to develop a personal AI assistant named “Mei.” One of the biggest security flaws with cloud-based algorithms is that users are required to hand over personal information to access the service, giving developers the opportunity to mine user data, he said. For this reason, many government agencies and
The National Fire Agency on Thursday said a series of drills simulating a magnitude 8.5 earthquake would be held in September to enhance the government’s emergency response capabilities. Since earthquakes cannot be predicted, only by continuously promoting disaster prevention measures could Taiwan enhance its resilience to earthquakes, agency Director-General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章) said in a news release. The exercises would be held to mark annual National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, the aim of which is to test Taiwan’s preparedness and improve its earthquake resilience in case of a major temblor, Hsiao said. As part of those drills, an earthquake alert would
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
RSS