21 new domestic cases reported; link found between two Taoyuan clusters
ROC Central News Agency
01/27/2022 05:01 PM
Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) Taiwan on Thursday reported 21 new domestic COVID-19 cases, one of which has been found to be the link between two clusters of unknown origin in Taoyuan, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The two clusters, which were recorded earlier this week, involve a preschool and a hotpot restaurant that is part of the Chien Tu chain, both in Taoyuan's Bade District.
Health authorities in Taoyuan have found that the two groups are linked by a woman in her 60s who dined at the restaurant on the same day as several previously recorded cases and whose grandson attends the preschool, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Thursday.
The combined cluster has recorded 23 cases to date, including eight confirmed Thursday. The genome sequence of the patients' infections matches the Omicron variant circulating in the outbreak in Taoyuan, though the CECC is still looking into how the two are connected, Chen said.
The Taoyuan outbreak originated from Taoyuan International Airport in early January, after which related clusters sprung up at a social club, factories, a bank, a Tasty steakhouse, and, most recently, at the Farglory Free Trade Zone.
It is currently the largest active cluster in Taiwan, with over 250 cases recorded in total, according to CECC data.
The second-largest ongoing cluster is linked to the Port of Kaohsiung, which reported eight new cases on Thursday, bringing the total to 72. The cluster is suspected to have begun with a maintenance worker at the port who came into contact with people on board a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel.
Of the two other clusters of unknown origin, one centers on a man in Taoyuan's Longtan District and the other the Evergreen Resort Hotel Jiaosi in Yilan County. Each cluster recorded one case Thursday and the number of individuals in the two clusters now stand at six and nine, respectively, according to Chen.
The remaining three domestic cases reported Thursday were all Taoyuan residents whose source of infection is unknown, and health authorities are looking into how they contracted the disease, Chen said.
Of the new domestic cases, 12 were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, seven had not received any vaccine doses, and the vaccination status of two cases is still under investigation.
In addition to the domestic cases, Taiwan also reported 43 imported cases on Thursday, 15 of whom were passengers who tested positive upon arrival in Taiwan on Wednesday. The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 18,566 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 14,994 domestically transmitted infections.
With no deaths reported on Thursday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the country remains at 851.
Meanwhile, in a statement released Thursday evening, the CECC said that a woman in her 20s, who had been in quarantine after coming into contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19, has herself tested positive for the disease.
She will be included in Friday's case count, the CECC said.
The woman's infection is linked to that of a mother and son who were confirmed as having COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to a statement released by Far Eastern Memorial Hospital.
The mother was admitted to the hospital in New Taipei on Jan. 4 for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 and her son accompanied her throughout her stay. The woman who tested positive on Thursday was accompanying a patient in the adjacent room, the hospital said.
The source of their infection is unknown.
(By Chiang Yi-ching)
Enditem/ASG
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