Taiwan reports 90 new COVID-19 cases, including 3 domestic

ROC Central News Agency

03/16/2022 03:12 PM

Taipei, March 16 (CNA) Taiwan reported 90 new COVID-19 cases -- three domestically transmitted and 87 that originated abroad -- and no new deaths from the disease on Wednesday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Two of the new domestic cases tested positive in quarantine, and they are connected to a cluster infection involving four schools in Taoyuan, bringing the number of cases in that cluster to 36, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said.

One of the new patients had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while the other had gotten one dose, Chen said.

The figures do not include imported cases reclassified as domestic ones, nor retroactively removed cases. As of March 16, Taiwan recorded 890 domestic cases in 2022, while the total number of imported cases rose to 5,945 from 2,375 on Dec. 31.

The other domestic case is likely linked to a cluster reported at a Union Bank of Taiwan branch in Taoyuan in January, which was connected to a larger outbreak of COVID-19 in the city at the time, he said.

The patient, a woman in her 70s, sought medical attention for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 and was tested for the disease on Tuesday, after which she was admitted to hospital, Chen said.

Her test results came back positive, but they indicated that it was not a recent infection, Chen said, adding that her close contacts, including her family members, have all tested negative for the disease.

As the patient had visited Union Bank in January when the employees were potentially infectious, she most likely contracted the disease then, but the CECC will continue to trace other possible sources of her infection, Chen said.

The patient had received three COVID-19 vaccine shots, he said.

1. More doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BNT 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, while medical workers can sometimes get more than the standard number of shots from a Pfizer-BNT vial. 2. Information about the booster dose and additional dose can be found at https://t.ly/4ZuW

Currently, the CECC is monitoring three domestic clusters and one individual case, all of unknown origin, in Taiwan, Chen said.

Genome sequencing found that all the patients in the three clusters were infected with the same version of the Omicron variant, he said.

Imported cases

In addition to the three new domestic cases, the CECC also reported 87 imported cases on Wednesday, 47 of whom were travelers who tested positive on arrival in Taiwan. The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 21,492 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,493 domestically transmitted infections.

With no deaths reported on Wednesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remained at 853.

(By Chiang Yi-ching)

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