The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 last week nearly doubled from the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that a six-month-old was diagnosed with serious enterovirus, the fourth such case this year.
The weekly number of local hospitalized COVID-19 cases last week rose to 623 from 329 a week earlier, while the number of deaths increased to 38 from 20, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.
People aged 65 or older have accounted for about 79 percent of cumulative hospitalizations and deaths from the disease this year, with most of them having underlying health conditions, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
Genomic surveillance data from the past four weeks showed that the JN.1 subvariant is still the dominant strain, accounting for 54 percent of imported cases and 60 percent of local cases, she said.
People who have tested positive for the newer subvariants have increased, with 27 percent of imported cases and 13 percent of local cases infected with the KP.2 subvariant, and 6 percent of imported cases and 9 percent of local cases infected with KP.3, she added.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said that two of the people hospitalized last week were infants, a three-month-old boy and an eight-month-old boy, both of whom had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
They had shortness of breath one or two days after the onset of cold-like symptoms, including a fever and coughing with phlegm, and were diagnosed with pneumonia, Lin said.
Both boys were admitted to intensive care units for treatment and have been discharged from hospital, he said.
The CDC advises people to undergo an at-home COVID-19 antigen rapid test if they develop cold-like symptoms and inform their doctor of the test result when seeking medical attention to help with a diagnosis, he said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said that COVID-19 activity is expected to peak in August or September, but the nation’s XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine coverage is still 11.4 percent, considered relatively low.
Facing new emerging subvariants that are more contagious, vaccines can still provide protection against severe complications and deaths, Tseng said.
Lee said that there were 17,634 hospital visits for enterovirus infection reported last week, 3.2 percent fewer than the previous week.
The epidemic period is not over, she said.
A six-month-old girl, who did not have underlying health conditions, developed serious enterovirus complications, including spasms, on June 4, Lin said.
The spasms returned on June 6, during which the girl’s eyes would roll back, he said.
However, she did not have common symptoms such as a runny nose, diarrhea or vomiting, he said, adding that she was hospitalized the next day with a fever and spasms, and tested negative for influenza and COVID-19.
Doctors suspected her symptoms were due to a central nervous system infection and she was admitted to an intensive care unit for treatment, he said.
She tested positive for Coxsackievirus A10 and was discharged from hospital after nine days, he said.
The source of the infection was not known and the girl’s family members did not have apparent symptoms, although adults with the disease often display no or mild symptoms, he said.
Caregivers should change their clothes and wash their hands thoroughly with soap immediately upon entering the home and before they approach young children, he said.
Parents and children should wash their hands with soap frequently, especially before eating, before playing with young children, after blowing their nose, after using the toilet, and before and after visiting a clinic or hospital, Lin said.
Children aged five or under are at higher risk of severe complications from enterovirus infection, which can progress rapidly, so caregivers of young children who have been diagnosed with the disease should pay close attention for signs of serious illness, including sleepiness, altered consciousness, lack of vitality, limb weakness or numbness, myoclonic seizure, continuous vomiting, shortness of breath and a rapid heartbeat, he said, adding that children who show such symptoms should immediately be taken to a hospital for emergency treatment.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and