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.
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.
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.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS