Taiwan reports 97 new COVID-19 cases, including 2 domestic

ROC Central News Agency

03/23/2022 02:57 PM

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Taiwan on Wednesday reported 97 new COVID-19 cases -- two domestically transmitted and 95 that originated abroad -- and no new deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

One of the domestic cases is the daughter of a nurse at Taipei City Hospital's Heping Branch, the CECC said. The nurse, her husband, and her son had tested positive on Tuesday.

The nurse most likely became infected at the hospital, as she had recently had contact with two COVID-19 patients there, the CECC said, adding that genome sequencing is being conducted to confirm this.

The other domestic case is a New Taipei resident who received a COVID-19 test in order to enter a hospital ward with a relative who was being admitted, and her results came back positive on Wednesday, the CECC said.

The results showed that the New Taipei resident had a very low viral load, which indicated that she had contracted COVID-19 a while ago, the CECC said, adding that it is also trying to trace the source of that infection.

In the new domestic cases, the patients had received two or three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CECC.

Current COVID-19 situations

Meanwhile, the CECC said, it is currently monitoring five domestic clusters and four individual cases in Taiwan.

Genome sequencing conducted in four of the clusters and one of the individual cases found that the infections were caused by three different versions of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, according to the CECC.

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

Imported cases

In addition to the two new domestic cases recorded Wednesday, the CECC also reported 95 imported cases, including 64 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 22,188 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,520 domestically transmitted infections.

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

(By Chiang Yi-ching)

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