The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital is expected to resume normal operations on Friday, following the successful containment of a COVID-19 cluster infection at the facility, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said the cluster — which began on Jan. 12 with the infection of a doctor who was treating COVID-19 patients and resulting in 21 infections, including one death — had been “brought to a close.”
In response to the cluster, the ministry on Jan. 22 initiated a plan to evacuate patients from high-risk areas of the hospital and reduce outpatient services.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
On Feb. 7, it announced that COVID-19 tests conducted on more than 2,000 hospital employees had yielded negative results, while samples taken from 585 wards and waiting rooms also tested negative for the novel coronavirus.
Chen said the hospital would report to the ministry after the Lunar New Year holiday and is likely to resume normal operations on Friday, barring any unforeseen issues.
Earlier yesterday, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said that 3,423 people had been tested in connection with the cluster, and that two temporary quarantine facilities near the hospital had been closed, bringing the cluster infection to an end.
“Taoyuan is not an epidemic area,” he added.
During the Lunar New Year holiday, visitor numbers to managed commercial and sightseeing areas rebounded to about 70 to 80 percent of capacity, he said, adding that the city government is working on an initiative to restore confidence and revive tourism.
The nation also reported no new COVID-19 infections for a third consecutive day yesterday.
Taiwan has recorded 937 cases, of which 821 have been classified as imported.
Of the total, 859 patients have recovered, nine have died and 69 are in hospital, CECC data showed.
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