Taiwan Covid-19 deaths hit record high as new cases continue to drop

Island logs 213 deaths on Friday, with total cases falling to about 68,000

Trend seen to be in line with expert assessment of pandemic situation and Taiwan’s ‘living with the virus’ strategy

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Parents take their children to special clinics as Taiwan’s Covid-19 wave reaches the southern city of Kaohsiung. Photo: CNA

Published: 7:56pm, 10 Jun 2022Updated: 10:17pm, 10 Jun 2022

Taiwan reported a record 213 deaths from Covid-19 on Friday, though the number of new cases dropped to around 68,000, suggesting recovery from the current wave that hit in May.

Cases have been on a steady decline since Tuesday, when more than 80,000 were reported. New infections logged on Friday totalled 68,311, of which 553 were severe cases.

Infections had also moved from the north to southern and central cities such as Tainan, Kaohsiung and Taichung, the island’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.

The Covid-19 patients who died on Friday were aged from 40 to above 90, and 135 of them had yet to receive their third booster vaccine dose. Most of the deceased suffered from chronic illnesses.

However, the continued rise in the Covid-19 death count comes amid a drop in the total number of new infections, which is in line with experts’ assessment of the island’s pandemic situation.

Professor Michael Lu, dean of the school of public health at the University of California, Berkeley, said the new caseload could come down after a holiday-induced rise over last week’s Dragon Boat Festival.