CECC focusing on two new COVID-19 cases of unknown origin
ROC Central News Agency
02/19/2022 05:16 PM
Taipei, Feb. 19 (CNA) Taiwan reported 73 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, consisting of eight domestically transmitted infections and 65 originating from overseas, with the source of two further infections yet to be determined, according to Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中).
Of the eight new domestic cases, one is a nurse working at a quarantine hotel in New Taipei that has been hosting people with asymptomatic and mild infections who test positive upon arrival in Taiwan, Chen said during the Central Epidemic Command Center's (CECC's) press briefing.
The nurse -- a woman in her 30s who was the only case listed as a breakthrough infection Saturday -- tested positive during a routine weekly check as part of her job, according to Chen.
Thirteen of her co-workers have tested negative, and her family has been placed in quarantine while the CECC investigates how she was infected, Chen said.
1. More doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered in Taiwan than the government has officially received because recipients of the Moderna booster shot are given half the standard dose of the first and second jab. 2. Information about the booster dose and additional dose can be found at https://t.ly/4ZuW
According to Chen, the other case causing concern involves a man in his 50s who returned from China on Jan. 18 and who had provided several negative tests in 21 days following his arrival in Taiwan.
The minister added that the man was found to be infected with COVID-19 after taking a test in recent days in preparation for traveling abroad.
The man is, for the moment, listed as an imported infection but the CECC has not ruled out the possibility that his infection was acquired locally either in the community or during his stay at a quarantine hotel, Chen said.
Linked domestic cases
Meanwhile, three of the new domestic cases have been linked to a cluster involving a gravel supplier in Kaohsiung, including the husband of a market vendor who was confirmed positive on Feb. 14, along with the couple's two children, Chen said.
The market vendor was infected with the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant -- which has been responsible for the wider outbreak linked to the Port of Kaohsiung -- and her infection has been traced to relatives of an employee of the gravel supplier in Kaohsiung who traveled to Miaoli during the Lunar New Year holiday in early February.
A total of 37 cases have been linked to the gravel supplier cluster following Saturday's new infections, according to the CECC.
Religious group cluster
The four other domestic cases involve three New Taipei residents who took part in a gathering of a religious group on Feb. 13 at which more than 80 people from across Taiwan had a meal. Over 20 of the 80 then went to a KTV parlor, according to Chen.
The remaining case is a student who went to the same junior high school in New Taipei's Banqiao District as one of the cases who attended the Feb. 13 gathering.
The case from the Feb. 13 gathering was confirmed as having COVID-19 Friday.
Initial test results for the students' 29 classmates and three teachers have all been negative, Chen said.
Apart from the nurse and the student, six of the eight new domestic cases tested positive while in quarantined after being traced as contacts of confirmed cases, according to Chen.
Related:
Another Omicron case linked
During Saturday's press briefing, Chen also reported that genome sequencing results showed that a policeman contracted the same Omicron variant of the virus as an Indonesian student he came in contact with at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Feb. 10.
The policeman's live-in granddaughter and his daughter in Taipei tested positive after he was confirmed as having COVID-19 on Feb. 15.
In addition to the domestic cases, Taiwan also reported 65 imported cases on Saturday, of which 31 were discovered upon arrival at the airport on Friday, while the remainder involved people who entered Taiwan as early as Jan. 18.
The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.
The figures do not include imported cases reclassified as domestic ones, nor retroactively removed cases. As of Feb. 19, Taiwan recorded 774 domestic and 2,131 imported COVID-19 cases in 2022.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 19,937 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,377 domestically-transmitted infections.
With no deaths reported on Saturday, the number of people confirmed to have died from COVID-19 in the country remained at 852.
(By Chnag Ming-hsuan, Yu Hsiao-han and Kay Liu)
Enditem/ASG
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