The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new domestically transmitted case of COVID-19 and three imported cases.
A Taiwanese woman in her 40s who was listed as a contact of a nurse at Taoyuan General Hospital — the center of a cluster infection that broke out on Jan. 12 — tested positive yesterday, the center said.
While in quarantine from Jan. 12 to Wednesday, she developed an itchy throat and was tested on Thursday.
Photo copied by Lin Yi-chang, Taipei Times
Two members of her family, who had already been listed as contacts of the nurse and the nurse’s grandmother, have been ordered to remain in quarantine until Feb. 18, the center said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news conference in Taipei that the woman has not been outdoors since the start of her quarantine except to receive a COVID-19 test.
“All relevant contacts have been put in isolation,” he said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
To date, 20 people linked to the hospital cluster have tested positive for COVID-19: two doctors, four nurses and six of their relatives, a migrant caregiver, two hospital patients and three of their relatives, and two other contacts.
The three imported cases involved travelers from the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the US, the center said.
A Dutch man in his 60s flew to Taiwan on Jan. 2 for work, the CECC said, adding that he had a certificate of a negative polymerase chain reaction test result issued three days before boarding his flight.
The man, who has so far shown no symptoms, began work on Jan. 17 after finishing quarantine, but on Wednesday sought a self-paid COVID-19 test, required for his return trip, which came back positive yesterday, the center said.
A Taiwanese in his 20s who lives in the US arrived with three family members on Jan. 13 — all with negative COVID-19 test results, the center said.
After the end of their required self-health management period, they sought self-paid tests to determine whether it was safe to visit relatives, it said, adding that all of the results, except the man’s, came back negative.
An Afghan man in his 40s, who lives in Dubai and travels often to Taiwan for business, arrived on Jan. 7 with a negative COVID-19 test result, the center said.
After the end of his required quarantine, he developed a cough on Jan. 24, but did not seek medical treatment, the CECC said, adding that on Thursday, he sought a self-paid COVID-19 test to allow him to return home, the result of which came back positive yesterday.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS