"Even a Model Country for COVID-19 Response Overwhelmed": Taiwan Sees Quadrupling of Emergency Patients as COVID Cases Surpass 10,000

Fourfold Surge in Emergency Patients Within Two Weeks
US and Europe-Originated Variant Spreads Rapidly

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As a new wave of COVID-19 variants spreads in Taiwan, it has been reported that the number of emergency care patients has surpassed 10,000. With the variant, which began to spread last year in the United States and Europe, now circulating in Taiwan, health authorities around the world are on alert.

According to the United Daily News of Taiwan on the 29th, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that between July 19 and July 25, the number of emergency cases related to COVID-19 reached 10,605, surpassing the 10,000 mark. Until July 14, the cumulative number of emergency care patients was about 2,811, but in just two weeks, this figure has suddenly surged nearly fourfold.

Between July 21 and July 27, 42 more severe COVID-19 cases were recorded, including a 7-month-old baby girl, and among them, two people—a 9-year-old child and a person in their 70s—were reported to have died. The Taiwan CDC stated, "The number of COVID-19 patients has increased for seven consecutive weeks," and predicted, "If the current trend continues, the number of infections will surpass 51,000 around August 16, and the epidemic is expected to continue until the end of September."

Taiwan was once regarded as a model nation for quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, but since last year, the so-called 'Nimbus (NB.1.8.1)' variant has spread and the number of cases has risen again. As recently as last year, there were 203 severe COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths reported in Taiwan. The Nimbus variant had a major outbreak in the United States and Europe last year. Currently, the global share of COVID-19 variants is overwhelmingly dominated by Nimbus, accounting for 58.76%.

The Taiwanese health authorities are increasing COVID-19 vaccination efforts once again. According to data from the Taiwan CDC, the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered last week was 7,607, more than three times higher than the previous week's total of 2,655. The Taiwan CDC also stated, "More than 437,000 doses of vaccine are secured, so there is no problem with supply."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.