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TAIPEI, Taiwan – Schools in Taiwan have reopened for the school year as the island’s largest COVID-19 outbreak abates.
Schools on the island closed in May and many have gone online in the face of the island’s largest outbreak, which has since exceeded 15,000 cases. Taiwan is now reporting new single-digit COVID-19 cases.
Students will have lunch at their own desk, which now has plastic dividers separating the students. Masks are mandatory and classrooms will have exhaust fans to circulate the air.
Two giant balloons and music created a festive tune greeting students arriving for class at Tienmu Primary School on Wednesday. Parents relive their children’s return to school, saying online learning isn’t necessarily good in the long run.
“You can see the parents are really happy today,” said Liao Cher-hao, president of the school’s parents association in the capital, Taipei. “They all want to send their children back to school as soon as possible. Basically, we did a survey. The results of the online courses are not very good.
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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:
– Vaccinations in rural areas India improving, but the country continues to struggle with sufficient supplies to meet demand
– Sound extract labeling the epidemic in the United States as an “unvaccinated pandemic” captured the moment but not the whole story
– Find more AP coverage on https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronvirus-vaccine
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS:
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea has reported more than 2,000 new cases of the coronavirus, approaching a daily record set last month just a day after authorities cautiously expressed hope that infections could slow down.
The 2,025 cases reported Wednesday marked the 57th consecutive day of at least 1,000 cases, and transmissions are feared to worsen as its biggest holiday of the year approaches.
Authorities are fighting a slow rollout of the vaccine and an erosion of public vigilance despite the strictest social distancing rules, except for a lockdown in Seoul and other major population centers, where rallies social services of three or more people are prohibited after 6 p.m.
There are fears the virus will spread faster during this month’s Chuseok holiday, the Korean version of Thanksgiving where millions of people typically travel across the country to meet loved ones.
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MELBOURNE, Australia – The Australian state of Victoria reports its first deaths from COVID-19 this year, and the government concedes that the number of infections of the delta variant of the coronavirus will continue to rise.
The state reported two deaths on Wednesday, the first since October 18. Neighboring New South Wales has reported four deaths, bringing the death toll to 102 from a delta variant outbreak that began in June.
Victoria and New South Wales are both closed and now rely on vaccinations for their residents to contain the outbreak.
With 120 new infections reported on Wednesday, Victoria Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said: “We will not see that number of cases drop. They will go up. “
New South Wales has reported 1,116 infections in the last 24 hour period.
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RICHLAND, Washington – Workers at the Hanford nuclear reserve in eastern Washington state who do not provide proof of coronavirus vaccination will need to be tested at least once a week to be allowed at the site .
The Tri-City Herald reports that the policy announced Monday covers about 11,000 Energy Department workers, contractors and subcontractors. Many workers could be required to comply by mid-September.
Also under the new policy, visitors with business to the site will be required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative virus test from the previous three days.
The Hanford site was used to produce two-thirds of the plutonium for the country’s nuclear weapons program during World War II and the Cold War. About $ 2.5 billion is now spent annually on cleaning up the contaminated site.
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ATLANTA – More Georgians are diagnosed with coronavirus infections than ever before. The seven-day moving average for positive tests rose to 9,641 per day on Tuesday, breaking the previous record of 9,635, raised to January 11.
Officials say the rapid spread among children is a new aspect of the pandemic. Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey said on Monday cases had skyrocketed since schools opened in early August.
Toomey says that “we are seeing a significant number of cases in school-aged children, and the number of cases has almost quadrupled in the past two weeks, with the largest increase – the largest number of cases – in children. ages 11 to 17. “
She says public health officials tracked more than 170 outbreaks statewide last week, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. More than half were in schools.
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HILO, Hawaii – The largest hospital on the Big Island of Hawaii is operating at about 120% of capacity amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that the Hilo Medical Center has 38 patients being treated for the disease caused by the coronavirus, including 10 in the intensive care unit.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said that as the largest hospital on the island, it cannot turn patients away.
She says he has a plan for everyone who comes for treatment. Last week, the hospital opened a 16-bed overflow unit at its long-term care facility.
The hospital says it is constantly evaluating its campus to find places to treat patients.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An increase in hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients is putting even more strain on the Alaskan hospital system. One health official calls it a “very serious crisis” and worries about what the next few weeks will bring.
The state health department reported that hospitals had a record 152 COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, surpassing previous highs in December.
Jared Kosin of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association told the Anchorage Daily News that the latest rise in coronavirus infections has shown little sign of slowing down.
As of Tuesday, 771 of the state’s 1,200 hospital beds were occupied. Out of 174 intensive care beds, all but 26 were taken.
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MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota officials are reopening four free coronavirus testing sites as circulation of the highly contagious delta variant renews demand for testing.
The re-opened locations include sites in St. Paul and Bloomington, augmenting existing metro-area sites in Brooklyn Park and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Outside the metropolitan area, the St. Cloud and Mankato sites are expected to resume testing this week.
The increase in testing locations comes as cases of the virus continue to grow in the state and hospitals near full capacity, with both intensive care unit beds and hospital beds in the state. together more than 90% occupied.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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