Taiwan reports first child death from Covid-19 as cases hit record high

Taiwan reported the first death of a child due to Covid-19 yesterday, as its locally transmitted cases reached an all-time high of 1,626.

The majority of cases have been reported in Northern Taiwan, specifically in New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Keelung.

The two-year-old boy's health condition deteriorated shortly after he began showing symptoms, said a New Taipei City hospital in a statement. He was unconscious and had a high fever when he arrived at the hospital.

Previously, there had been no Covid-19-related death recorded in patients under 30 years old.

Having crossed the 1,500 daily case mark, Taiwan has reached the threshold to roll out home quarantine for confirmed cases with mild symptoms to avoid overcrowding hospitals and quarantine facilities, which will focus on those with severe symptoms, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung yesterday.

Ten cities and counties started home quarantine recently, and the rest of Taiwan should follow suit within a week, he added.

This is the second and more serious wave of domestic transmissions that Taiwan has seen since the pandemic began in 2020. The surge started in late March, growing from 15 cases on March 24 and jumping to more than 1,000 a day since April 15. The first wave lasted from last May to August, with the highest daily case count recorded at 476 in June.

In spite of the current case spike, Taiwan's mandatory quarantine rules have relaxed for both overseas travellers and those who have come in contact with confirmed cases. The quarantine period has been cut from 14 days to 10, and people do not need to quarantine in hotels if they are able to do so alone at home.

Additionally, confirmed cases who are asymptomatic can end their quarantine 10 days after they first tested positive, with no requirement to be tested negative. Those with mild symptoms are allowed to leave quarantine 10 days after they began displaying symptoms.

Testing frequency has also been cut down. Starting today, those who have come in contact with a confirmed case will be tested only once on the day the quarantine ends, instead of at least four times in 17 days. The same applies to those who have entered Taiwan from overseas. Both groups will be given one antigen rapid test in case they develop symptoms after the end of their quarantine.

Rapid test kits have been in strong demand since the local cases began surging early this month, prompting the government to plan a rationing scheme to be launched early next month, said Mr Chen at a regular briefing at Parliament on Monday.

Five test kits will be given to each resident during each collection.

The government is looking to work with local manufacturers to produce 31 million test kits and import another 100 million for the plan, said Mr Chen.

He added that in response to the public's requests to keep rapid test kits affordable, each is to be priced at around NT$100 (S$4.70).

As at yesterday, Taiwan has had 37,710 Covid-19 cases and 856 deaths since the pandemic began in January 2020.

Almost 80 per cent of the population have received two vaccine doses, while about 56 per cent have received their booster shot.