Taiwan yesterday confirmed 23 new domestic COVID-19 cases, the highest daily figure since the beginning of an outbreak that originated among Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport cleaning staff earlier this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
The cases included 11 people associated with the airport, and 10 with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, reported in Kaohsiung, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said at a daily news conference.
Another case was a direct family contact with an imported case, he said, adding that the domestic case is being investigated.
Photo: CNA
Even though Taiwan is seeing sporadic outbreaks across the country, most of them had traceable infection sources, Chen said.
“The situation might be clearer after the Lunar New Year holiday,” Chen said, but cautioned that the Kaohsiung cases were more complicated.
Those cases can be traced back to a maintenance worker at Kaohsiung Harbor, who might have contracted the disease when he came into contact with people on a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel, health officials in the city said yesterday.
The commercial vessel departed from the Philippines and was docked in Kaohsiung from Monday last week to Wednesday, the officials said, adding that it was next scheduled to dock at Jeju Island in South Korea.
Chen said it was likely that the man was infected on Thursday or Friday last week, adding that the CECC had informed its South Korean counterparts.
The man’s wife and child were on Thursday reported to have COVID-19, and seven Kaohsiung Harbor workers were confirmed yesterday, Chen said.
Three other Kaohsiung residents were infected at a local clinic that the man visited on Wednesday after he developed symptoms on Saturday, Chen said.
Of yesterday’s 23 new domestic cases, 15 were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, two had received one dose, three were unvaccinated, and the status of the other three was still under investigation, CECC data showed.
The nation yesterday also reported 45 imported cases, for which the CECC did not release the vaccination statuses.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 18,109 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, of which 14,772 were domestic infections.
The count of confirmed COVID-19 deaths remained at 851.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft