Taiwan reported 347 new domestic cases of COVID-19 on Monday, down from last week’s peak, as officials said the island’s latest outbreak is showing signs of slowing down.

This was the fourth consecutive day when the number of new cases fell below the recent high of 670 recorded last Thursday. There were 355 cases on Sunday and 486 on Saturday.

Monday’s total included 274 newly confirmed cases and 73 backdated cases. Fifteen people died of COVID-19 on Monday, all 60 or older.

The island’s northern regions continued to be the worst affected, with Taipei recording 122 cases and the adjacent New Taipei 171.

The head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, Chen Shih-chung, said on Monday that the latest wave had started to slow and the number of backdated cases had declined.

The latest outbreak, which began in mid-May, has raised concerns that some hospitals have been pushed to their limits.

A medical worker at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei told Apple Daily Taiwan that some COVID patients had to remain in emergency units together as there were too few negative-pressure rooms for them. Further, there is a shortage of personal protective equipment for hospital workers, the employee said.

A video circulated online showed patients in beds outdoors at a Taipei hospital.

However, health officials said on Monday that local authorities had sufficient supplies of medical equipment and would replenish hospitals in need of resources.

As the island continues to struggle to secure more vaccines, health officials announced on Sunday that they had signed contracts with two homegrown drug manufacturers to purchase a total of 10 million doses.

On Monday, a concern group filed a lawsuit in a Taipei court asking the government to exempt manufacturers from providing reports and documents about their newly developed drugs, to speed up the island’s acquisition of vaccines.

The group said Taiwan’s normal procedures would slow down the delivery of jabs.

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