Silent Hypoxia Common in Older COVID-19 Patients 部分確診長者不吃藥 隱形缺氧死亡風險升

Taiwan's COVID-19 death rate continues to remain high. With 57 deaths reported on Feb. 12, doctors say some elderly patients have a higher risk of death because they won't take antivirals and end up with silent hypoxia. Meanwhile, cities and counties are dealing with a shortage of mortuary freezers.

Emergency rooms have been filled to capacity in recent weeks due to temperature fluctuations. One ER doctor says the majority of ER patients have COVID-19 or respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Some elderly COVID-19 patients aren't willing to take antivirals, which leads to silent hypoxia and a higher risk of death.

Lee Chien-chang, Emergency Doctor, NTU Hospital: “With some old people that don't take medicine, they develop a chronic cough and their blood oxygen level goes down. This is called "silent hypoxia" because it takes a blood test for a diagnosis. You see this quite often with Omicron.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan's COVID-19 death rate continues climbing and mortuaries are running out of freezer space. The Taipei City Mortuary Services Office says there is often a shortage between the Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival because Taiwanese people traditionally don't hold funerals during the first 15 days of the new lunar year. However, the shortage is worse than ever this year.

Tsai Ming-juan, Spokesperson, Taipei City Mortuary Services Office: “Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 12, there were 4,129 deaths in Taipei. This was a year-on-year increase of 742.”

The office says the situation has abated in the last few days and the majority of corpses can enter into cold storage the day they arrive at the mortuary. Meanwhile, doctors say the epidemic is far from over and everyone should get fully vaccinated, continue to wash their hands frequently, and maintain good hygiene practices at least until the end of March.

近來日夜溫差大，各大醫院急診幾乎爆滿，有急診醫師表示，除了新冠肺炎，還有許多呼吸道、心血管疾病等共病患者來掛急診，其中有部分年長的新冠確診者，不願服用抗病毒藥物，導致隱形缺氧死亡風險上升。

台大醫院急診醫學部醫師李建璋指出：「一些老人呢，他是一開始並沒有吃藥，到後來咳嗽一直沒有好。一驗的話，他血氧是比較低的，所以隱形缺氧，其實在Omicron還是存在的。」

不僅急診爆滿、新冠死亡人數居高不下，就連殯儀館也面臨冰櫃不足的問題。對此北市殯葬處表示，傳統習俗從過年到元宵節期間不辦告別式，導致每年春節過後都會發生冰櫃塞車情形，尤其今（2023）年春節有寒流來襲，冰櫃一時不敷使用。

北市殯葬管理處發言人蔡名娟表示：「台北市從112年1月截至2月12為止，死亡進館的數字是4129具，比起111年的同期增加了有742具。」

北市殯葬處指出，這兩天冰櫃塞車情況已獲緩解，幾乎可以當天進館、當天進冰櫃。而醫師也提醒民眾，雖然20日下週一室內口罩令解封，但是新冠疫情尚未結束，建議民眾要完整接種疫苗，維持勤洗手等衛生習慣，至少要到3月底、疫情才會到谷底，目前防疫仍不可鬆懈。