According to FOCUS TAIWAN, seniors who contract COVID-19 should be hospitalized, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advisor Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said, following an uptick in deaths among senior patients.
The CECC is planning to revise its guidelines on arranging accommodation for infected people and standards for discharging patients from hospitals so beds can be made available more quickly, Chang said at a press briefing.
Seniors and people with chronic diseases are more likely to suffer severe COVID-19 symptoms, and so it is preferable for them to be treated in hospitals after coming down with the disease, Chang said.
FOCUS TAIWAN mentions, Chang's comments were made after an increase in seniors dying from the disease shortly after developing symptoms.
The current spike in domestically transmitted infections has skewed older, with 38 percent over 60-years-old, according to CECC data from April 15 to May 24.
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CECC states that seniors diagnosed with COVID-19 should be hospitalized. Image courtesy of CECC.
On the other hand, people who suffer mild symptoms can stay in government quarantine centers or hotels equipped with medical personnel, Chang said.
The CECC is also planning to ease restrictions so that those who recover well can be relocated from hospitals to their homes where they can continue self-isolation, Chang noted.
Patients may be discharged from hospitals after their infections have been screened for 10 days and the transmission ability of the virus inside their bodies declined significantly, he added.
FOCUS TAIWAN says, some COVID-19 patients, particularly those with mild or zero symptoms, have been asked to isolate at home pending further notification to relocate them to hospitals or designated facilities, according to CECC official Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞).
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