The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four new cases of COVID-19, including one local case.
The local case is a family member of an Indonesian pilot who works for China Airlines (華航) and tested positive for COVID-19 in Australia, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The pilot, who is in his 40s, on Tuesday reported an itchy throat during a layover in Australia, upon which he was tested, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
The local case, a male teenager, is a close family member of the pilot, and as the boy did not travel abroad recently, it is likely a local infection, he said.
It is the first local infection reported in Taiwan since February.
Another case, an Indonesian man in his 50s who also works for China Airlines, on Friday last week visited an event at the Taipei Grand Mosque with the pilot and his family member, Chen said.
However, as he visited the US for work from April 4 to 10, the source of infection is under investigation, he added.
The man tested negative at the end of the mandatory quarantine after his US trip, but tested positive in a self-paid test on Wednesday ahead of a planned visit to relatives in Indonesia, Chen said.
He did not report symptoms during quarantine, but said that he felt tired and slightly feverish while visiting the mosque, Chen said.
The event at the mosque was attended by more than 400 worshipers — 200 indoors and the rest outdoors, Chen said.
The pilot and his family member also visited the At-Taqwa Mosque in Taoyuan’s Dayuan District (大園) on Monday and a Pxmart in the city’s Lujhu District (蘆竹) at about 4pm on the same day, he said.
Fifty-eight people who had close contact with the pilot have been tested for COVID-19, and two tests came back positive, Chen said, adding that the center is investigating whether it is to be classified as cluster infection.
People who visited the same places as the three at similar times should conduct 14 days of self-health management, the CECC said.
The Taipei and Taoyuan governments said that measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 at the three places had been carried out.
Moreover, the CECC said that 1,270 China Airlines employees would be tested.
Two previously reported cases of airline employees were found to be infected with a COVID-19 variant first reported in the UK last year, Chen said.
While the two older cases are not connected to the new ones, it is necessary to conduct widespread testing, he said.
Chen criticized China Airlines for being significantly slower than EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) at vaccinating its employees against COVID-19, saying that strict regulations for flight crew members who are not vaccinated might be implemented.
As of Thursday, 222 China Airlines employees had been vaccinated, while 456 EVA Airways employees had received the jabs, CECC data showed.
The two imported cases reported yesterday were from India and Belgium, the center said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Ya-hua and Chou Min-hung
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