The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 28 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and six deaths.
It also confirmed that Taipei’s Dalongdong Baoan Temple (大龍峒保安宮) became the first temple in the nation to be approved for conditional reopening.
The infection sources of 16 local cases have been identified, while the sources of three remain unclear and nine are under investigation, CECC data showed.
Photo: CNA
New Taipei City reported 15 cases, followed by Taipei with nine, Taoyuan with two, and Miaoli County and Taichung with one case each, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
About 84 percent of the cases reported since May 11 have been released from isolation, he said.
The six deaths were four men and two women aged 60 to 90, five of whom had underlying health conditions, the CECC said.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the center, said new SARS-CoV-2 variants were detected in imported cases, so local governments should closely monitor the health of people under home quarantine.
As some restrictions that were part of a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert were relaxed yesterday, the center reminded local governments to remain vigilant and pay special attention to response measures to outbreaks.
Most of the local cases reported in the past two weeks were linked to cluster infections within residences or workplaces, mostly in Taipei and New Taipei City, so the center urged the two municipalities to provide their residents with access to testing and healthcare services, Chen Tsung-yen said.
Reporters asked Chen Tsung-yen about the temple, whose application to reopen was rejected by the Taipei City Government, but was later approved following a COVID-19 prevention meeting.
He said that the guidelines and conditions for reopening a religious venue, including submitting a disease prevention plan, were announced by the center last week.
Dalongdong Baoan Temple chairman Liao Wu-chih (廖武治) yesterday morning said that the temple had submitted its disease prevention plan to the Taipei Department of Civil Affairs, but he received a text message from Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) saying that the city would ask the CECC to clarify its guidelines, as they contradict the Ministry of the Interior’s regulations.
Chen Tsung-yen said that he had explained in detail the conditions for reopening religious venues at a CECC news conference on Friday.
The Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Civil Affairs also explained the guidelines to local civil affairs departments, so the rules should be very clear, he added.
After the center again explained the guidelines to the Taipei City Government yesterday morning, Dalongdong Baoan Temple became the first religious venue to be approved for conditional reopening, he said.
Many religious venues have decided not to apply for reopening during the level 3 alert period, he said.
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