The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported six local and four imported COVID-19 cases, while President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is today to receive a vaccine developed by domestic firm Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗).
Inoculations with the Medigen vaccine are to start today.
Tsai on Monday last week said she booked an appointment on the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system to get vaccinated today.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday said that Tsai would receive the vaccine at the gymnasium at National Taiwan University’s College of Medicine at about 7:30am, to avoid disturbing other vaccine recipients.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the six local infections are three men and three women, two of whom tested positive during or upon ending isolation.
Three local cases were reported in Taipei and one each in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yunlin County, he said, adding that the infection sources of three cases have been identified, two are still under investigation and one remains unclear.
As Yunlin has not reported any cases for two months, people might be concerned about the new case, but the center thinks it poses a low risk to the local community, Chen said.
The person arrived in Taiwan in March and tested negative before starting work as a domestic worker in Taipei. She also tested negative before starting work at a household in Yunlin, to which she transferred in the middle of last month, he said, adding that she tested positive at a hospital as she was planning to accompany a patient there.
The cycle threshold values from her test results were between 36 and 38, indicating a low viral load, and she tested negative for immunoglobulin M and positive for immunoglobulin G in an antibody test, indicating a previous infection, so it is unlikely that she contracted the disease in Yunlin or is contagious, he said.
The four imported cases are travelers from Germany, India, Japan and South Africa.
CECC data showed that the four had been vaccinated, but Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division, said that only the people from Japan and Germany had been fully vaccinated.
So far there have been 19 imported cases of breakthrough infections; eight people received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and five received the AstraZeneca vaccine, he said.
No new COVID-19 deaths were reported yesterday.
A Taiwanese YouTuber suspected of creating and selling deepfake porn videos featuring more than 100 politicians and influencers was on Monday released on bail after being arrested the previous day. Chu Yu-chen (朱玉宸), 26, who uses the name Xiaoyu (小玉) on YouTube, was arrested on Sunday in New Taipei City, along with two suspected accomplices, a 24-year-old YouTuber surnamed Yeh (耶), known as Shaiw Shaiw (笑笑), and a 22-year-old man Chuang (莊). The three suspects were on Monday escorted to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for further questioning on suspicion of distributing obscene videos and publicly insulting others, in contravention of
FAMILY: While the CECC agrees ‘in principle’ to allowing entry to foreign spouses and children of foreigners in Taiwan with a residence permit, the issue is still being reviewed A nationwide level 2 COVID-19 alert is to be extended for two weeks until Nov. 1, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, adding that agencies are still discussing whether to allow foreign spouses and children of foreigners in Taiwan with a residence permit to enter the nation. “In principle we agree to relaxing the entry regulations for the group, but relevant agencies are still reviewing and discussing the matter,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. The center on Sept. 13 eased border restrictions for foreign dependents of Taiwanese nationals. They can apply
ANTI-COERCION: EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said the EU wishes to bolster relations with Taiwan within the framework of its ‘one China’ policy The EU is to further its engagement with Taiwan to defend democracy, freedom and an open market, while bolstering cooperation in semiconductor supply chains, EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday. In her remarks at a European Parliament plenary session focused on Taiwan-EU relations, Vestager referred to China’s increasing military presence in the Taiwan Strait, including flying missions off the southwest coast of Taiwan. “This display of force may have a direct impact on European security and prosperity,” she said, adding that the EU encourages all parties to avoid any unilateral actions that might increase tensions across the Strait. “We Europeans
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) yesterday said he would leave the party and would not seek re-election, as he confirmed a report that he worked as an informant for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian regime when he was a student. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported on Saturday that Huang, 57, worked as an informant for the KMT when he was in college. Huang yesterday on Facebook said he accepts political responsibility for working with the authoritarian government to spy on his fellow students when he was in university and apologized to those affected
RSS