Ten new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed yesterday, bringing the nation’s total to 373, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, including a four-year-old boy who caught the virus from his grandparents.
There were nine imported cases and one domestic, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The four-year-old, who lives with his grandparents, developed a fever on March 25 and was tested after his grandmother was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Friday, becoming case No. 343, Chen said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The grandfather tested positive on Sunday, becoming case No. 356, although he had not experienced any symptoms after returning from the US on March 17, CECC data showed.
A contact investigation has so far identified 175 people who had direct contact with the family, and the public preschool that the boy attends has been suspended for two weeks, Chen said.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the boy developed a fever while at school on March 25 and his teachers placed him in a separate room while he waited for his mother to collect him, but he returned to class two days later and again last week before the long holiday weekend.
The boy’s parents have tested negative, and 38 people from the preschool — 29 students in the boy’s class, six teachers and three staff — have been put under home isolation, while another 83 people have been told to practice self-health management, Chuang said.
Chen said the nine imported cases were four women and five men who returned from the US, the UK, Iceland and Indonesia between March 21 and Saturday.
Case No. 364 is a woman who works in the US, who reported experiencing symptoms to airport quarantine officers upon arrival on Monday last week, but tested negative, he said.
The woman continued to feel ill while under mandatory home isolation, and she tested positive yesterday, he said, adding that several other passengers on her flight to Taiwan earlier became confirmed cases, including Nos. 370 and 371, family members who work and study in the US who reported for testing when they experienced symptoms during home isolation.
Chuang said a total of nine passengers on the flight — China Airlines (華航) Flight CI011 from New York to Taipei on March 30 — have been confirmed to have COVID-19 after returning to Taiwan, and all 327 people, including 13 crew members, were put under mandatory home isolation.
Asked about Case No. 364 testing negative in her first test, Chen said sometimes the viral load is too low when swab samples are taken at an airport, so complying with 14-day home quarantine rules is crucial.
Meanwhile, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that Republic of China (ROC) citizens who wish to send masks to first or second-degree relatives, who are also citizens, must apply for an export permit before sending any masks via the post office or express delivery services, but can do so online.
As of Thursday, ROC citizens can send up to 30 masks every two months to first or second-degree relatives in other countries.
A special Web site (emaskep.trade.gov.tw) is to start accepting applications at 9am on Thursday, said Wang, who is also head of the CECC’s resources division.
In other mask-related news, the center said all vendors and service providers who deal with customers would be required to wear masks, but the regulations would be announced at a later date.
Additional reporting by CNA
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
‘REALLY PROUD’: Nvidia would not be possible without Taiwan, Huang said, adding that TSMC would be increasing its capacity by 100 percent Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday praised and lightly cajoled his major Taiwanese suppliers to produce more to help power strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI), capping a visit to the country of his birth, where he has been mobbed by adoring fans at every step. Speaking at an impromptu press conference in the rain outside a Taipei restaurant, where he had hosted suppliers for a “trillion-dollar dinner,” named after the market capitalization of those firms attending, Huang said this would be another good year for business. “TSMC needs to work very hard this year because I need a lot
RSS