The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reclassified two cases of SARS-CoV-2 previously listed as imported as being associated with a quarantine hotel cluster infection, making them the nation’s first local cases of the Omicron variant.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that according to genome sequencing results, changes in the cycle threshold (Ct) values from polymerase chain reaction tests and other data, it is likely that one of the cases transmitted COVID-19 to the other cases at the hotel.
The genome sequence of the virus sample from case No. 17,085 has two site differences from each of the two other cases — No. 17,058 and No. 17,099 — while comparison of the other two cases showed four site differences, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
The Ct values of case No. 17,085 increased from 16 to 27, indicating a reducing viral load from a longer infection, while the Ct values of case No. 17,058 reduced from 26 to 20 and that of case No. 17,099 decreased from 21 to 17, indicating a growing viral load and more recent infections, he said.
Moreover, when case No. 17,085 returned to Taiwan there had already been 1,000 cases of the Omicron variant reported in the US, but when the two other cases returned from China and Japan, those two nations had not reported local cases of the variant, he added.
Therefore, it is likely that case No. 17,085 transmitted COVID-19 to the other two cases at the hotel, so the center has reclassified the two cases as locally transmitted, Chen said.
Meanwhile, 34 close contacts of a case linked to another suspected cluster infection at another hotel in Taipei, reported on Sunday, have tested negative, while seven people are awaiting their test results, he said.
Showing two charts displaying the changes in weekly COVID-19 case numbers in six regions, and the weekly confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, Chen said case numbers are rocketing in North America and Europe, where they increased by 94 percent and 81 percent respectively last week.
Cases involving the Omicron variant have surged in many nations, but it is a good sign that the number of deaths has not increased at the same rate, he said.
However, such a large number of cases could still overwhelm a nation’s healthcare system, causing more harm, so Taiwan must remain highly vigilant, he added.
The CECC yesterday reported 25 new imported cases of COVID-19.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that 88 cases of the Omicron variant had been identified in Taiwan — 86 imported cases and the two local cases from the quarantine hotel.
Most of the cases, 66, are people aged 20 to 40, but that could be because most of those returning home for Lunar New Year are studying or working overseas, Lo said, adding that 50 people have experienced mild symptoms, while 38 were asymptomatic.
Separately, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday asked the CECC and local governments to speed up inspections at quarantine hotels and implement improvements as soon as possible.
Everyone must strictly comply with disease prevention regulations and thoroughly implement the CECC’s standard procedures to lower the risk of infection at source and prevent any more mistakes occurring, he said.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
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