Taiwan reported 251 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday. That includes 250 new domestic cases and one imported case.
The addition of 26 more deaths from the disease brings the death toll from the pandemic to 411. The deceased include 17 men and nine women, with the youngest patients in their forties. They contracted the disease between May 15 and June 9 and died between June 4 and June 11. Regarding the total of 411 people who have died from COVID-19 in Taiwan, health officials said that 89% were aged 60 years and over with chronic illnesses.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says the outbreak is not getting worse. He says that though cases have gone down in the past few days, we can’t let our guard down. Health officials are thanking the public for not traveling during the Dragon Boat Festival and reminding people to stay at home as much as possible during the holiday.
Of the new domestic cases announced on Saturday, 116 were men and 134 were women. They began experiencing symptoms between May 28 and June 11.
The Saturday totals (by city/county) are as follows:
New Taipei City: 133
Taipei City: 65
Keelung City: 16
Taoyuan City: 13
Miaoli County: 9
Hualien County: 3
Yilan County: 2
Hsinchu City: 2
Changhua County: 2
Taichung City: 2
Kaohsiung City: 1
Yunlin County: 1
Hsinchu County: 1
Health officials also say they want to do more rapid testing. That’s because they fear there are many cases of COVID-19 still going unreported because of a lack of testing capacity. Officials are importing rapid home testing kits to allow people to take a test without leaving the house.
Officials also say they are conducting rapid tests at a number of high tech companies that have seen outbreaks in recent days. They will continue to do so on a regular basis to prevent the virus from affecting Taiwan’s high tech industry.
Officials also say people who have been vaccinated can still be carriers of the virus. However, those people are less likely to be highly infectious. That’s because a few weeks after vaccination, the body normally develops a strong immune response to COVID-19. That means those people should carry less of the virus if they are infected.
As for the source of the domestic cases reported on Saturday, 198 had a travel history in the Greater Taipei area. A specific source of transmission is known for a further 52 cases and the source is unknown for seven.
Taiwan also recorded one imported case of COVID-19 on Saturday. The female patient is in her forties and arrived in Taiwan from China.