《TAIPEI TIMES》 Dad wants answers in boy’s death

/ Staff writer, with CNA

The father of a two-year-old boy who last month died of COVID-19 yesterday asked why it took more than an hour to find an ambulance to take his son to a hospital, saying the delay led to his son’s death.

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“What exactly happened during those 81 minutes?” he wrote on Facebook.

The boy died on April 19 following six days of treatment in an intensive care unit at Shuang Ho Hospital in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District （中和）.

He was the first child in Taiwan to die of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in 2020.

Attributing the cause of the child’s death to the rapid deterioration of his condition after he developed severe symptoms, the hospital said at the time that he died of brain stem encephalitis resulting from septicemia triggered by COVID-19.

Prior to the boy’s death, nobody under 30 had died of COVID-19 complications in Taiwan.

“After En En [恩恩, the boy’s name] tested positive for the disease with a high fever, we repeatedly called the Jhonghe District Public Health Center, but the call was never answered. We called the New Taipei City Fire Department, which asked us to get approval from the health center first, and then dialed 119 four times before an ambulance was dispatched,” the father said. “We waited 81 minutes for the ambulance to come, and that was the hardest and longest time in our lives.”

“Recalling the situation, we were utterly hopeless and as his father I feel great regret and heartbreak,” he said. “I want the authorities to tell us the truth. Why it took 81 minutes for the ambulance to come, and why En En was only able to get to the hospital 91 minutes later.”

The father said he and his wife have sent an application to the New Taipei City Government, the Centers for Disease Control, Jhonghe health center and the 1922 hotline, asking them to release the call records.

In response to media queries yesterday, New Taipei City Mayor Hou you-yi （侯友宜） refrained from commenting, saying only that “every life must be treasured and everything possible must be done to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.”

New Taipei City Department of Health Director Chen Ran-chou （陳潤秋） said “everything that should have been done was done,” and the ambulance was dispatched in accordance with Communicable Disease Control Act （傳染病防治法） guidelines.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung （陳時中）, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, yesterday said that recordings of 1922 hotline calls are preserved for a year, and an applicant should present their ID to access the recordings.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES