Taipei, May 2 (CNA) One of the severe domestic COVID-19 cases reported by Taiwan on Monday involved the youngest person to date -- an infant under one year old -- to develop a severe infection from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The baby girl, who has a nervous system disease and is unvaccinated against COVID-19, developed a fever on April 26 and her parents sought medical attention at a clinic before returning home.
However, the baby experienced difficulty breathing on April 28 and was rushed to a hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19, according to the CECC.
The baby girl was intubated after suffering respiratory distress and is currently in an intensive care unit (ICU). She has been placed on a ventilator and treated with the antiviral remdesivir, an intravenous drug given mostly to seriously ill COVID-19 patients in hospitals, the CECC said.
To date, Taiwan has recorded two severe COVID-19 cases in children under five years old, including a 2-year-old boy from New Taipei who died of the disease on April 19, the first child fatality from COVID-19 in Taiwan since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Meanwhile, among the seven new severe COVID-19 cases reported on Monday is a woman in her 20s without major chronic diseases who received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The woman tested positive for the disease recently when seeking medical attention at a hospital after developing a fever and diarrhea, the CECC said.
She then returned home to undergo quarantine for mild COVID-19 symptoms but her condition deteriorated rapidly and she was admitted to hospital where she was diagnosed with low blood pressure and renal function impairment.
On the next day of admission, she developed signs of respiratory distress and is currently in intensive care on a ventilator and receiving remdesivir, the CECC said.
Taiwan on Monday reported 17,801 new domestic cases as well as three deaths from COVID-19, which involved two women between the ages of 80 and 100 and one man in his 70s.
All three had been previously listed as severe cases and had histories of chronic illness, according to the CECC.
It elaborated that one of the women in her 90s had diabetes and kidney disease and had received one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The patient tested positive on April 26 and died at home the next day due to COVID-related cardiopulmonary failure. She had not been intubated or placed on a ventilator.
Another women in her 80s with diabetes, cancer and a nervous system disease had received two COVID-19 jabs and tested positive on April 20. She died from cancer and COVID-19 during home quarantine on April 28.
The man with a history of myocardial infarction and cancer who had received hemodialysis and was unvaccinated against COVID-19 tested positive on April 23 and died on April 28 from COVID-related cardiopulmonary failure and septic shock in an ICU.
On Monday, the CECC also reported that 14 patients had developed moderate symptoms.
From Jan. 1 to May 1, Taiwan recorded 106,912 domestic cases, of which 106,637 have been classified as mild infections or asymptomatic, accounting for 99.75 percent of the total.
Meanwhile, 240 have been classified as moderate infections and 35 as severe, accounting for 0.22 percent and 0.03 percent of the total, respectively.
Of the 17,801 domestic cases reported on Monday, New Taipei reported the most with 6,584 followed by Taipei with 3,718, Taoyuan with 2,577, Keelung with 874, and Taichung with 839.
Kaohsiung reported 660 cases, Yilan County 397, Hualien County 393, Tainan 390, Pingtung County 285, Hsinchu County 228, Changhua County 203, Yunlin County 142, Taitung County 87, Nantou County 86, Chiayi County 83, Miaoli County 81, Hsinchu City 75 and Chiayi City 62.
The outlying Kinmen islands recorded 16 cases, Penghu islands 15, and Matsu islands six.
In addition, 57 new imported COVID-19 cases were reported Monday.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 150,808 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 139,311 domestically transmitted infections.
With three deaths reported Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country reached 871, of which 18 have been recorded this year.
