Taiwan adds 56 local COVID-19 cases, 13 linked to Keelung cluster
ROC Central News Agency
03/30/2022 08:12 PM
Taipei, March 30 (CNA) Taiwan on Wednesday reported 56 new domestically-transmitted COVID-19 infections, including 13 linked to a cluster in Keelung City, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Compared with Sunday when 83 new domestic cases were recorded, with 51 linked to a cluster at Datan Power Plant, most of the 56 local cases reported Wednesday were spread out across the country, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at a press briefing.
Keelung cluster
In Keelung, 13 of the new domestic COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday are linked to a cluster connected to a local karaoke bar, including six members of a family, bringing the total cases in the city to 68.
The cluster involves scores of police officers, students, and Keelung residents who were either infected after visiting the venue or their contacts.
Late Wednesday, Keelung reported six additional local COVID-19 cases, with the sources of infection still being investigated.
The Keelung Police Department said it will hold two police officers who tested positive for COVID-19 responsible for the spread of the virus to their colleagues after they visited the Karaoke bar with two female companions but initially lied about their whereabouts.
Power plant cluster
Among the new local cases recorded Wednesday, 12 are linked to the cluster at Datan Power Plant in Taoyuan, involving a job seeker, the job seeker's child and the child's friend, a subcontractor and the daughter of a previously infected subcontractor.
The number of confirmed cases linked to the cluster totaled 78 as of Wednesday.
The figures do not include imported cases reclassified as domestic ones, nor retroactively removed cases. As of March 30, Taiwan recorded 1,179 domestic cases in 2022, while the total number of imported cases rose to 7,319 from 2,375 on Dec. 31.
Other local infections
Meanwhile, six new cases were added to a cluster of infections at a technology company in New Taipei's Shulin District, while six new cases were reported as part of a cluster in an apartment building in Zhonghe District.
In addition, two new cases are linked to a family cluster in Taitung, one each linked to an insurance salesperson in New Taipei's Sanchong District, a family cluster in Sanchong, and a cluster at a chemical plant in Kaohsiung.
Meanwhile, two new COVID-19 cases were reported in Taitung, Chen said, adding that the number of cases in the county has increased to 12.
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
Related developments
Also Wednesday, the CECC reported 107 new imported COVID-19 cases.
Amid the spike in local cases, Taipei on Wednesday announced the suspension of classes at two elementary schools, one junior high and one vocational high school, as well as a kindergarten from Wednesday to April 8.
Also, classes at an elementary school in Hsinchu City have been suspended from Wednesday to April 10, according to the local government.
Meanwhile, a COVID-19 case involving a student at a junior high school in Keelung prompted the suspension of the student's class for 10 days from Wednesday to April 8.
The Naval Fleet Command announced that a sailor sought medical treatment and was tested for COVID-19 Tuesday, with the result coming back positive Wednesday.
(By Wang Chao-yu, Matt Yu and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/AW
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
