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
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2