The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 39 locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that 21 people among the local infections tested positive during or upon ending quarantine.
The local infections were mostly in Taipei and New Taipei City, with 14 cases each, followed by Taoyuan with 11 cases, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Infection sources of 23 cases have been identified, 12 cases are being investigated and four remain unclear, CECC data showed.
No new cases linked to a cluster in Pingtung County were reported on Tuesday, and all 677 close contacts of cases from it have tested negative, Chen said.
No new COVID-19 cases were found at three wholesale markets in Taipei, where clusters have been reported, he said, adding that another large-scale polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing program would be conducted on about 3,000 workers at Huannan Market (環南市場) in Wanhua District (萬華) today.
Photo: CNA
From Saturday, workers need to show a negative PCR test result to enter the market, he added.
Chen confirmed that a case reported by local media was an employee of Taiwan Aircargo Terminal Ltd (華儲股份有限公司), a subsidiary of China Airlines (CAL, 中華航空公司).
While the employee’s infection source remains unclear, four people among his family of six have contracted the disease, while about 900 extended contacts would be tested, he said.
Reporters asked whether a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert issued on May 19, which has been extended three times through Monday next week, might end next week.
The CECC is still discussing when it would be appropriate to remove the alert, as the standards — which include having fewer than 10 confirmed cases with unclear infection sources reported in a day on fewer than three days in a week — mean that an incident can quickly affect the alert level.
Meanwhile, Taiwan took delivery of a shipment of 626,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that it purchased from the British pharmaceutical company.
The shipment arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 3:17pm on a CAL cargo flight from Bangkok.
The batch expires on Oct. 30, CECC data showed.
The shipment is part of a 10-million-dose contract that Taiwan signed with AstraZeneca Taiwan on Oct. 30 last year.
Before yesterday’s shipment, the nation had received three shipments — 117,000 doses purchased directly from AstraZeneca that arrived in March, 199,200 doses in April obtained through the COVAX global sharing program, and 410,400 COVAX doses on May 19.
In addition, Japan early last month donated 1.24 million doses and is to make a second donation of 1.13 million doses today.
Additional reporting by CNA
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