Foreign
TAIWAN’S President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday expressed her sincere apologies for those who lost their lives recently due to COVID-19, and vowed to bring the situation under control and hasten the return of normal life.
“All people who contracted the virus and even lost their lives are part of this big family of Taiwan,’’ Tsai said in a televised speech ahead of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival break due to begin on Saturday.
Taiwan on Friday reported 286 new communally-transmitted cases of COVID-19, one imported case from Thailand and 24 related deaths.
In Taiwan, most patients were diagnosed with the alpha variant that first emerged in Britain.
Central Epidemic Command Centre said on Friday that 1,953 people or 17.5 per cent of the cases reported since mid-April had severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Taiwan has recorded 11,142 cases of COVID-19 since April 20, in its latest and most deadly outbreak since the pandemic began.
Currently, 274 patients are reliant on ventilators. So far, Taiwan, an island of 23.6 million people, has confirmed 12,500 infections, including 11,294 communally-transmitted cases.
The death toll was 385, as of Friday.
The president said that her administration would soon review the performance of domestic vaccines in accordance with international scientific standards.
Tsai urged people to stay “united” amid the pandemic and not to travel during the festival break in order to lower the risk of transmission.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Friday that last year about 4.65 million passengers used mass transportation during the festival.
This year, the number of seats booked has fallen significantly to about 65,795. (dpa/NAN)
– June 11, 2021 @ 13:19 GMT |
Tags: Taiwan’s president expresses sorrow for victims of COVID-19 pandemic
