Coronavirus Taiwan - Specific Developments July-October 2022

[Icon]

Eh actually most Asia, like the big ones, Japan and Korea etc. are cautious with their “opening”.

And while the locals are restless, they still support the locked door policy. When they finally give in, then the government can open. Elections coming soon…

Which compared to other places, like certain European countries, where they relaxed measures during elections and now have cases spike, well, that’s the issue.

Current variants behave more like encephalitis and less than a cold. Acceptable danger or acceptable loses balanced against political and popular will and freedom of travel.

As I said, complicated.

[DrewC]

@Icon

Eh actually most Asia, like the big ones, Japan and Korea etc. are cautious with their “opening”.

Not this cautious. Japan has opened up to group tourism (no quarantine), and afaik Korea has completely opened up now.

@Icon

Current variants behave more like encephalitis and less than a cold. Acceptable danger or acceptable loses

That never pushed them to take their (far greater) traffic fatalities more seriously, sadly. And I take the cases of encephalitis in little children seriously, but that’s a dozen or so kids out of, however many tens of thousands have been infected so far. With the vaccines now available for small children it’s becoming a much rarer occurrence, thankfully.

As for their elections, I could care less

[finley]

@DrewC

With the vaccines now available for small children it’s becoming a much rarer occurrence, thankfully.

That makes no sense. They haven’t even started vaccinating small children yet, so how could it already be a “much rarer occurrence”? How would you even know, since it’s so rare in the first place that the short-term measurements are dominated by noise? If you’re referring to vaccination of school-age kids, efficacy falls to zero within about 3 months, so you’re unlikely to see any payback for that, either.

I think the Taiwan authorities need to explain clearly whether these prominently-announced young cases of encephalitis represent a dramatic increase in what normally happens here; the fact that they haven’t put these cases in the context of the background rate suggests either that they don’t think it’s important, or that they’re up to something. As far as I’m aware, nowhere else on the planet experienced any remarkable increase in childhood encephalitis even during the days of delta.

My hypothesis is that a 100%-vaccinated young population has placed unique selection pressures on evolution of the local strain. I don’t think this has made a big difference to the virulence, but it could well have caused some qualitative changes in either the expected syndrome, or in the outlier cases.

As for Asia’s “cautiousness” generally: my feeling is that this is linked to the region’s general reputation for incorrigible corruption.

[Icon]

21 kids so far. The scary part is not finding an explanation yet.

And the encephalitis thinghie is in the variant most common in the US.

And yes, we will open up. But right now, history tells us that when they opened the doors wide open during the 1920s plague, they got hit the worst.

Remember that Taiwanese officials must be extra careful because not only they are liable to a very skittish electorate, staying strong is a matter of national security.

[jimipresley]

@DrewC

I take the cases of encephalitis in little children seriously

What about the big children? Don’t they count?

[DrewC]

Yes, but it’s much more prevalent in little kids.

[PeterB]

This device: X-ray fluorescent (XRF) analyzer is closes to tricorder in modern world.

It emits Xrays to activate the material atoms and measures spectra of emitted secondary Xrays to identify the elements.
For example you can point it at a piece of steel and it will give you content of the alloy and can identify the steel type using built in database.

Handheld XRF Analyzer Spectrometer, X-ray Fluorescence Analyzer, PMI Gun, XRF...

[MalcolmReynolds]

Covid Stats For 2022-07-06

Local = 34,499

Imported = 78

Deaths = 95

34,577 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, 34,499 local cases and 78 imported cases

Release date: 2022-07-06

Summary

The Central Epidemic Command Center announced today (6) that there were 34,577 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan, including 34,499 local cases and 78 imported cases; 95 new deaths were confirmed among the confirmed cases.

The command center said that there were 34,499 new local cases today, including 15,919 males, 18,561 females, and 19 under investigation, aged from under 5 years old to over 90 years old. The cases are distributed in New Taipei City (5,324 cases), Taichung City (4,669 cases), Taoyuan City (3,687 cases), Kaohsiung City (3,608 cases), Taipei City (3,110 cases), Tainan City (2,902 cases), Changhua County (1,880 cases), Pingtung County (1,362 cases), Yunlin County (900 cases), Miaoli County (882 cases), Hsinchu County (878 cases), Yilan County (796 cases), Hsinchu City (755 cases), Nantou County (688 cases), Chiayi County (671 cases), Hualien County (607 cases), Taitung County (492 cases), Keelung City (449 cases), Chiayi City (424 cases), Penghu County (219 cases), Kinmen County (162 cases), Lianjiang County (34 cases) .

The command center pointed out that there were 95 new local deaths today, including 52 males and 43 females, aged between under 5 and over 90 years old. All had severe infections, 87 had a history of chronic disease, 62 had not received the recommended 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 38 had not any doses at all. The date of diagnosis was between May 7 and July 3, 2022, and the date of death was between May 24 and July 3. Please refer to the attachment to the press release for details.

The command center stated that among the 78 new cases of immigration today, 45 were males and 33 were females, ranging in age from under 5 to over 70 years old, from the United States (7 cases), Austria (4 cases), and Vietnam. (3 cases), Thailand and Poland (2 cases each), Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines (1 case each), and another 56 infected countries are under investigation. The entry date is from June 30 to July 5 this year.

According to the statistics of the command center, up to now, a total of 13,723,230 new coronavirus pneumonia-related notifications (including 9,755,385 excluded) have been reported in Taiwan, of which 3,964,188 were confirmed, including 15,176 imported cases, 3,948,958 local cases, 36 Dunmu Fleet cases, 3 aircraft infections, 1 case is unknown and 14 cases are under investigation. Since 2020, a total of 7,223 COVID-19 deaths have occurred, of which 7,208 are local. The counties and cities of the cases are distributed as New Taipei City with 1,758 cases, Taipei City with 915 cases, Taichung City with 675 cases, Kaohsiung City with 616 cases, Taoyuan City with 570 cases and Tainan City. 491 cases in Changhua County, 294 in Pingtung County, 194 in Yunlin County, 193 in Nantou County, 178 in Keelung City, 155 in Yilan County, 142 in Miaoli County, 131 in Chiayi County, 116 in Hualien County, There are 115 cases in Hsinchu County, 113 cases in Chiayi City, 89 cases in Taitung County, 68 cases in Hsinchu City, 9 cases each in Kinmen County and Penghu County; the other 15 cases were imported from abroad.

The command center once again calls on the public to complete vaccinations as soon as possible, implement personal protective measures such as hand hygiene, cough etiquette, and wearing masks, reduce unnecessary movement, activities or gatherings, and avoid entering and leaving crowded places or high risk of infection transmission and actively cooperate with various epidemic prevention measures, download and use the “Taiwan Social Distancing APP”, and jointly strictly guard the community defense line.

The ninth batch of 450,000 doses of Moderna vaccine purchased this year arrived in Taiwan this morning

Release date: 2022-07-06

Summary

The Central Epidemic Epidemic Command Center said today (6) that the ninth batch of 450,000 doses of Moderna vaccine will be purchased this morning (2022) and will arrive at Taoyuan International Airport this morning. The inspection and sealing operation is expected to be completed on July 20, and it is expected to be distributed to the county and city governments from July 21, and then provide basic dose vaccination for children aged 6 months to 5 years old. This batch is valid until December 25 this year.

The command center pointed out that on July 22, 2021, my country signed a two-year supply contract for a total of 35 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine with the US company Moderna. It is scheduled to supply 20 million doses of the vaccine this year, and a total of 9.636 million doses have arrived. , respectively, the first batch of 1.5121 million doses on January 25, the second batch of 1.4048 million doses on February 15, the third batch of 1.2246 million doses on February 27, the fourth batch of 200,400 doses on April 23, the fifth batch of 4 1.3716 million doses on May 27, 1.1061 million doses in the sixth batch on May 3, 1.1155 million doses in the seventh batch on May 4, 1.2509 million doses in the eighth batch on May 7 and 450,000 doses in this batch.

4 new confirmed cases of Omicron subtype variant BA.5, 2 local cases and 2 imported cases

Release date: 2022-07-06

Summary

The Central Epidemic Epidemic Command Center announced today (6) that there were 4 new confirmed cases of Omicron subtype variant BA.5 in Taiwan, including 2 local cases and 2 imported cases.

According to the command center, there are 2 new cases of Omicron subtype variant BA.5 imported from abroad today, 1 male (hereinafter referred to as case A) and 1 female (hereinafter referred to as case B), both of whom are under the age of 10. , for the border interception of Omicron subtype variant BA.5 announced on July 4, 2022. The confirmed cases living with family members (hereinafter referred to as the index cases), 3 people entered the United States on June 19, and they were in the same family. Quarantine in quarantine hotels. The index case had symptoms such as cough, fever, and earache when entering the country, and the airport test was positive and confirmed; Case A and Case B were diagnosed with fever on June 23. The 3 people were moved out of the hotel on June 26 and continued to be quarantined at home, and the quarantine period has now expired.

The command center explained that among the 2 new local cases of Omicron subtype variant BA.5 today, 1 male (hereinafter referred to as case C) and 1 female (hereinafter referred to as case D), aged in their 30s and 50s, respectively. Age is the family cluster related to the index case. Case C and Case D took the three cases mentioned above to the airport on June 19 to an anti-epidemic hotel. Case C developed symptoms such as cough, fever, and sore throat on June 24, and was notified of the diagnosis after being tested positive. Case D was moved to another place for home isolation on the same day. On June 29, because the index case was detected as Omicron BA.5, the health unit immediately conducted epidemic investigation and inspection on the traveller, co-resident and contacts (cases A to D). Case D was also confirmed on June 30. , and the sequencing results of 4 cases were all Omicron BA.5. At present, the quarantine period of Case C has expired, and Case D has been quarantined until July 7. Kuang listed a total of 1 related contacts, a friend of Case C. The test result was negative and listed as self-health monitoring.

The command center appealed that according to the existing research, the probability of serious illness caused by Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 is not significantly higher, but the infectivity has increased. the threat of community transmission. The public is requested to complete vaccinations as soon as possible, implement personal protective measures such as hand hygiene, cough etiquette and wearing masks, reduce unnecessary movement, activities or gatherings, avoid entering and leaving crowded places, or areas with high risk of infection transmission, and Actively cooperate with various epidemic prevention measures, download and use the “Taiwan Social Distancing APP”, and jointly strictly guard the community defense line.

Specific Details Regarding The Deaths Reported Today

Release date: 2022-07-06

Summary

There were 95 new local deaths today, including 52 males and 43 females, aged between under 5 and over 90 years old. All had severe infections, 87 had a history of chronic disease, 62 had not received the recommended 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 38 had not any doses at all. The date of diagnosis was between May 7 and July 3, 2022, and the date of death was between May 24 and July 3. Please refer to the link below for specific individual case details.

7月6日新增死亡COVID-19確診個案表.pdf

95 COVID-19 Deaths Reported on July 6, 2022

Gender

Female = 43 (45.26%)
Male = 52 (54.74%)

Age Distribution

90s = 16 (16.84%)
80s = 32 (33.68%)
70s = 22 (23.16%)
60s = 16 (16.84%)
50s = 6 (6.32%)
40s = 1 (1.05%)
30s = 1 (1.05%)
Under 5 - 1 (1.05%)

Vaccination Doses

0 = 38 (40.00%)
1 = 5 (5.26%)
2 = 20 (21.05%)
3 = 30 (31.58%)
4 = 2 (2.11%)

Chronic Disease History

Yes = 87 (91.58%)
None = 8 (8.42%) - All Females

Vaccine Status For Deaths With No Chronic Disease History

0 = 2 (Ages → F-90s, F-80s)
2 = 3 (Ages → F-80s, F-80s, F-60s)
3 = 3 (Ages → F-80s, F-80s, F-70s)

Click to see detailed cases report

Current Severity of Symptoms Statistics

Local Cases By Districts (Interactive Map)

台灣 Covid-19 本土病例地圖

Cumulative Table Of Deaths From COVID-19 In Taiwan

https://covid-19.nchc.org.tw/deathstatistics.php?dt_name=1&downloadall=yes

[finley]

Perhaps worth mentioning that the original Chinese rendering of “Cumulative Table Of Deaths From COVID-19 In Taiwan” is the terse and ambiguous 台灣新增死亡COVID-19個案表. The ambiguity - omitting attribution of cause - is completely reasonable. IMO this translates more accurately (if clumsily) to “Dead individuals testing positive for COVID-19”.

I would be interested to know if any CECC official has, at any point, claimed that these people died unequivocally of COVID.

[amitkattal]

Taiwan reports first domestic BA.5 subvariant cases - Focus Taiwan

[BigDave]

How would they know? Most people don’t do a pcr anymore.

Now we have to worry about BA5. We should go back to mask wearing and close the borders.

[finley]

I’m surprised they bother sequencing the test samples, but I guess it’s only for a subset of arrivals.

The five individuals were either asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms, Lo added.

And yet here’s the CECC, cranking up the merry-go-round again. Why exactly are we supposed to be more worried about this?

[TaipAmy]

Greater fear leads to greater compliance and greater control.
Leaving it ambiguous benefits them.

[flatlandr]

@finley

Why exactly are we supposed to be more worried about this?

Because people with 0 - 3 inoculations are dying with cancer? Because we’ve been forced, politically, to show we are one of the big boys and purchased 2 years worth of inoculations that have a “use by” date?

[Andrew]

Lo said that the woman’s brother and mother likely contracted the disease during the car ride from Taoyuan International Airport to Taichung, even though all five people wore masks throughout the entire journey, because the three arrivals did not meet with the two others when in quarantine.

Don’t want to say “I told you so”, but I’m sure a few of us pointed this out back when they introduced this new defeating-the-purpose-of-quarantine quarantine rule. It’s pretty fucking obvious that this would happen anyway.

Also:

even though all five people wore masks throughout the entire journey

What a bunch of clowns.

[finley]

@Andrew

What a bunch of clowns.

Well… I suppose, if you introduce a mask mandate, somewhere inside your brain is a genuine belief that masks are a guaranteed method of preventing the spread of COVID.

[BigDave]

Maybe they are getting ready to let us know that the next generation BA1 specific vaccines will be like the ones we have. Not very good at stopping you getting it.

[MalcolmReynolds]

95 COVID-19 Deaths Reported on July 6, 2022

Gender

Female = 43 (45.26%)
Male = 52 (54.74%)

Age Distribution

90s = 16 (16.84%)
80s = 32 (33.68%)
70s = 22 (23.16%)
60s = 16 (16.84%)
50s = 6 (6.32%)
40s = 1 (1.05%)
30s = 1 (1.05%)
Under 5 - 1 (1.05%)

Vaccination Doses

0 = 38 (40.00%)
1 = 5 (5.26%)
2 = 20 (21.05%)
3 = 30 (31.58%)
4 = 2 (2.11%)

Chronic Disease History

Yes = 87 (91.58%)
None = 8 (8.42%) - All Females

Vaccine Status For Deaths With No Chronic Disease History

0 = 2 (Ages → F-90s, F-80s)
2 = 3 (Ages → F-80s, F-80s, F-60s)
3 = 3 (Ages → F-80s, F-80s, F-70s)

Click to see detailed cases report

Original CECC Report of 2022-07-06

7月6日新增死亡COVID-19確診個案表.pdf

Cumulative Table Of New Deaths From COVID-19 In Taiwan

https://covid-19.nchc.org.tw/deathstatistics.php?dt_name=1&downloadall=yes

[afterspivak]

@finley

a genuine belief that masks are a guaranteed method of preventing the spread of COVID

Yeah it’s all-or-nothing, either a full guarantee or just foggetaboutit.

I agree however that the airport pickup policy is stupid.

Guy