Mon, Aug 30, 2021 page1

• COVID-19: CECC reports 13 local cases, one death

  SAME HOUSEHOLD: Ten of the new cases are from a family cluster in New Taipei City, while four of 10 imported cases had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 13 locally transmitted infections, 10 imported COVID-19 cases and one death.

  Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that following two consecutive days of no local infections, 13 new cases were confirmed, including nine people who tested positive during isolation.

  Eleven cases were reported in New Taipei City and two in Taipei, he said.

  

  A batch of 30,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the Czech Republic is offloaded from a cargo plane upon its arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon.

  Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times

  Ten of the cases in New Taipei City are family members who live in the same household in Sansia District (三峽), and the other is a worker at the Mega City (大遠百) shopping mall in Banciao District (板橋), Chen said, adding that expanded testing is being conducted among mall employees.

  The infection sources of nine people in the family cluster have been found, while contact tracing continued to identify the infection sources of the remaining four cases, he added.

  The first case in the family cluster is a man who had been hospitalized from the middle of June to early last month, Chen said.

  

  Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), attends the daily CECC news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo courtesy of Central Epidemic Command Center

  The man tested negative at the time, but was tested again before a recent examination at a hospital. After the man tested positive, his family members were placed under isolation, he said.

  Only one member of the family, a child, did not test positive for COVID-19, Chen said, adding that the infected family members are aged two to older than 50.

  The one death that was confirmed yesterday was a cargo ship captain, whose case was reported last week, Chen said.

  The 10 imported cases came from China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam and the US, he said.

  Six of them had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and the other four were fully vaccinated, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.

  Of the four, one had received three doses of the Chinese-made ZF2001 vaccine, an adjuvanted protein subunit vaccine; one had received two doses of the Chinese-made Sinovac (科興生物) vaccine; one had received US firm Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Janssen vaccine; and one had received two doses of the Indian-made Covaxin vaccine.

  Chen also provided an update about a breakthrough infection reported on Saturday — a pilot at a Taiwanese airline who had received two doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

  Twenty-one close contacts of the pilot have tested negative, while two are awaiting test results and five are to be tested, Chen said.

  The center suspects there might be loopholes in the implementation of the procedures to protect flight crews from COVID-19 infection during overseas flights, he said.

  The procedures would be reviewed, Chen said, adding that quarantine rules for flight crew members would likely be tightened.

  Meanwhile, a shipment of 30,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the Czech Republic arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon.

  “We are very grateful for the donation... When many countries around the world are facing vaccine shortages, the Czech Republic is still willing to express its friendship, which is very helpful to the people of Taiwan,” Chen said.

  Chen and the other CECC officials at the daily news briefing wore masks that bore the message “Thank you Cesko,” and the national flags of Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

  In related news, more than 1.97 million people had added the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to their preferred vaccine brands three hours after registration opened on the national online COVID-19 vaccination system at 2pm on Saturday.

  The number had increased to 2.88 million people as of 2pm yesterday, the center said.

  The nation’s first-dose vaccination coverage rate reached 42.55 percent on Saturday, it added.
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