A woman has tested positive for COVID-19 after being infected in Taiwan, the first domestic case since Nov. 4, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said yesterday.
The woman had a cycle threshold value of 15, indicating a recent infection, the CECC said.
The CECC confirmed Chinese-language media reports that the woman works at a lab at Academia Sinica, where she is thought to have contracted the disease.
Photo: CNA
The institution in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) said in a separate statement last night that all public areas on its campus would be closed today, and meetings and events would be either postponed or conducted online.
Meanwhile, people arriving in Taiwan from Tuesday next week are required to submit a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test conducted within three calendar days of their departure rather than three business days, the CECC announced.
The CECC is instituting a three-step set of pandemic prevention guidelines for travelers arriving between Tuesday next week and Feb. 14, with an influx expected ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts late next month.
First, people must prepare all of the documentation — which can be stored electronically — that are required before they depart, it said.
Requirements differ depending on quarantine protocols, it said.
For example, people who are to quarantine for 14 days in a designated facility only need to provide a negative PCR test and proof of accommodation, the CECC said.
Those undergoing 10 days in a facility followed by four days at home need to provide these two items, as well as the name, ID and telephone number of any cohabitants, it said.
People who are to spend half their quarantine in a facility and half at home must prepare all of the above information and proof of vaccination, although those aged 12 or under are exempted, it said.
Second, an online Quarantine System for Entry form must be filled out within 48 hours before departure, the CECC said, adding that the form — available at hdhq.mohw.gov.tw — must be presented at the airport before boarding.
Third is the post-arrival procedure, which starts with confirming receipt of electronic messages and presentation of disease prevention documents, it said.
After passing through immigration and luggage collection, new arrivals must submit to rapid testing for COVID-19 before boarding a designated vehicle to their accommodation, the center said.
Separately, Taiwan took delivery of a shipment of 1.92 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The expiration date on the batch is March 25, the CECC said.
The delivery is part of 15 million doses ordered by the Hon Hai Precision Co-affiliated Yonglin Foundation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, and donated to the government’s distribution program.
More than 12.39 million doses of the 15 million have been delivered, CECC data showed.
Additional reporting by CNA
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