The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 62 new COVID-19 cases, including four domestic infections linked to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport initially confirmed by the Taoyuan City Government on Thursday evening.
The domestic COVID-19 cases are a 27-year-old security guard working at the airport’s Terminal 2, two members of the Golden Voice Social Club and the sister of a previously infected social club member.
The other seven cases in the cluster are airport janitors, who were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 earlier this week, the center said.
Photo: CNA
The security guard is a woman in her 20s, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, adding that 388 contacts had been identified and 105 had tested negative for the disease.
The test results for 257 contacts were due later yesterday, while arrangements were being made for another 26 contacts to be tested, Chen said.
The first person infected in the cluster was likely a female janitor in her 50s who was confirmed to have contracted the disease on Wednesday, he said.
Photo: CNA
The woman tested positive for anti-nucleocapsid antibodies and had the highest cycle threshold value among the people in the cluster, which indicated that she had been infected a while ago, he added.
Victor Wang (王必勝), the center’s on-site commander at the airport, said priority was being given to identifying all possible contacts of the cluster to curb the spread of the disease.
Meanwhile, the center yesterday adjusted the number of cases in the cluster at the airport down to 11, saying that genome sequencing had indicated one infected person was not part of an infection chain linked to janitors.
The 58-year old disease prevention taxi driver was confirmed to have caught the disease earlier this week and would now be categorized as a separate case, the center said.
Three family members and six other contacts of the driver had tested negative for COVID-19, Chen said.
The 58 new imported cases reported yesterday involved people aged from their teens to 70s who entered Taiwan between Dec. 22 last year and Thursday, arriving from Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, the US and Vietnam, the center said.
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