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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as