A local report came out that as many as 146 people died in 48 hours as the worst arctic cold wave ever struck Taiwan, a subtropical region.



According to Taiwanese media outlets such as China Times and Yonhap, 146 people died from cardiovascular disease across Taiwan on the 27th and 28th, the strongest cold wave this winter hit during the Lunar New Year holiday.



In the metropolitan area of ​​Taipei and New Taipei City, 28 and 19 people died, respectively, but in particular, in Taoyuan, infants such as a 3-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl were killed, the Chinese Times reported.



In addition, Taiwan fire officials said that 116 people were urgently transported to the hospital due to myocardial infarction for 48 hours from 8 am on the 26th.



Free Times reported that at least 40 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred in all regions of Taiwan over the previous 24 hours due to the 'arctic cold wave'.



Taiwanese media reported that most of the deaths were elderly people who appeared to have cardiovascular problems due to the low temperature.



Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau (CWB) continues to issue low-temperature warnings for 22 cities and counties.



The Meteorological Bureau predicted that the minimum temperature in the morning would drop to 8 to 10 degrees and gradually warm from tomorrow at the earliest.



However, the Taiwanese police and fire authorities said they could not say that the rapid increase in deaths was due to this cold wave, and said that more investigations were needed.



Dr. Li Zhenjiang of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Taiwan University Hospital said that elderly patients with chronic underlying diseases or cardiovascular diseases are at high risk for sudden death due to cold weather and rapid diurnal temperature differences. Media added that they emphasized that they should go to the hospital immediately and be careful at night or early morning, which is the most dangerous time.



Taiwan, which straddles the Tropic of Cancer, has a higher temperature than Korea and is very humid, and most residential facilities do not have heating facilities such as ondol.



(Photo = Yonhap News)