As the spread of COVID-19 appears to be slowing in Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is considering easing restrictions over indoor activities, such as allowing gatherings of up to 250 people, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said yesterday.
Such an easing would allow wedding banquets with 30 tables, with eight people per table, and each table 1.5m apart, he said.
The center is discussing with information security departments how to protect personal data if diners are required to register their names when visiting restaurants, he said.
Photo: CNA
It is also considering issuing a safety mark for restaurants that follow the center’s recommended disease prevention guidelines, he said.
Asked about loosening border controls or disease prevention regulations, Chen said many decisions made since the COVID-19 outbreak had been painful ones, as the center had to find a balance between humanitarian considerations and the public interest.
These included allowing a Taiwanese who returned home to break his 14-day home quarantine so he could see his father for the last time, not letting Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan, China, return to Taiwan on their own, and an abrupt announcement that all travelers arriving from Europe would be placed under mandatory quarantine, as the center had to make quick decisions as the pandemic evolved, he said.
Chen said he is grateful for the public’s support and cooperation, which has helped Taiwan stand out in disease prevention efforts, but people will have to continue following personal protective measures to keep this up.
The center yesterday reported no new cases of COVID-19, marking the fourth consecutive day with no new confirmed infections and the 29th consecutive day with no new domestic cases.
A total of 368 patients have been removed from isolation after recovery.
However, the center confirmed one more death, bringing the total number of deaths to seven.
The patient, case No. 197, was a man in his 40s who traveled with his wife to the US from March 8 to 18, exhibited symptoms, including a fever, on March 19, and reported for testing on March 21.
The man and his wife, case No. 202, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24 and were hospitalized.
The man did not have chronic diseases and was not suffering from pneumonia when he was admitted to the hospital, but his condition worsened rapidly and he was transferred to an intensive care unit on March 28 when he experienced difficulty breathing, CECC advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.
The man, who had been on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support for more than a month, developed complications, including septic shock and multiple organ failure, and passed away on Sunday, Chang said.
His wife, also in her 40s, experienced the same symptoms and tested positive on the same day as her husband, so they might have been infected by the same type of virus, but she was removed from isolation after testing negative for a third time on April 10 and was discharged from the hospital on April 11, Chang said.
As the man was middle-aged and did not have chronic diseases, Chang said he might have suffered a cytokine storm — a severe immune reaction in which an excessive release of proinflammatory cytokines results in the body attacking its own cells and tissues rather than just fighting off the virus.
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