The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 76 new local COVID-19 cases and five deaths.
New Taipei City again recorded the most cases, with 32, followed by Taipei with 20, Taoyuan with 10, Hsinchu County with four, Miaoli County with three, Changhua County and Kaohsiung with two each, and Yilan County, Keelung and Taichung with one each, the center said.
Of the five deaths, three are men and two are women, aged in their 70s to 90s, who passed away between Monday and Wednesday, it said, adding that all had a history of chronic illness.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The center also reported that 14 people — seven women and seven men, aged 52 to 97 — died on the second to ninth day after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
As of yesterday, 193 people, aged 41 to 101, have died after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, including 155 people older than 75, the center said.
The CECC has not found a correlation between the deaths and the vaccine, it added.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, Taipei’s Huannan Market and Taipei First Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market, both affiliated with Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co (TAPMC, 台北農產運銷), continue to report new infections, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Chen urged Taipei health authorities to quickly complete polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests of people working at the markets, and implement disease control measures for confirmed cases and their contacts.
Cluster infections linked to TAPMC’s markets renewed issues between the Taipei City Government and the Council of Agriculture (COA), which each own 22.76 percent of the company.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday met with Chen, and both agreed to step up epidemic prevention measures targeting outlying stalls and vendors around Huannan Market to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to other stalls.
Since Sunday, 5,022 people working at TAPMC’s markets have received rapid virus tests, and only 15 of them tested positive through PCR tests, COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.
Of the 3,626 people working at New Taipei City’s markets that have been tested, none tested positive, he added.
As of Thursday, people are required to present a negative virus test result before they are allowed to enter the markets, he said, adding that the CECC has also started vaccinations.
Starting on Monday, 1,570 people who deliver crops to the markets would also be required to present a negative test result before entering markets in the two cities, he added.
To avoid waste and expand vaccination coverage, people aged 18 and older are eligible to be inoculated with unused doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the CECC said yesterday.
As each vial of vaccine usually contains 10 doses, there are sometimes leftover doses that must be discarded if they are not administered within a certain period of time, said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is CECC deputy commander.
Those eligible for the vaccinations would be required to register at designated clinics and hospitals, which would notify them whenever leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses are available, he said.
Leftover doses would only be administered to people who registered to receive them, he said.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and CNA
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