An unvaccinated woman in her 70s has been reported as the first domestic COVID-19 Omicron variant infection in Taiwan with moderate to severe symptoms of the disease.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday that the woman, who has been hospitalized at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei since early January for other health problems, tested positive for COVID-19 in late January during a mass screening after a nurse tested positive.
After testing positive, the elderly patient, who has not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, was transferred to a negative pressure isolation ward. Subsequent chest X-rays showed that she had moderate pneumonia in her right lung, according to CECC official Lo Yi-chun (???).
The woman's condition improved after doctors treated her with drugs including Remdesivir, and she has now been transferred to the general ward of the hospital, Lo said.
He added that the woman had underlying health conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Taiwan has reported 516 domestic COVID-19 cases since January, with data showing that the Omicron variant now accounts for all of the cases that have undergone genome sequencing, Lo said.
Most of the cases are mild or asymptomatic, with the exception of the elderly woman, he said.
The most common symptoms among the mild cases are coughing, discomfort in the throat, fever, and runny nose, Lo added.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel