The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for the first time in more than two months, but said it was still monitoring four clusters.
Taiwan recording no new domestic cases “can make everyone happy for a day, but we still need to work on keeping the COVID-19 situation under control day by day,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news conference.
The nation last recorded zero domestic cases on Jan. 1.
Photo: CNA
Recordings of zero domestic cases on Jan. 2 and Jan. 3 were changed when it was later determined that an imported case on Jan. 2 was a domestic transmission, and a janitor at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport had been belatedly reported as having tested positive for the virus on Jan. 3, the CECC said.
Four domestic clusters are being monitored, three of which have unknown sources of infection, CECC data showed.
One of the three clusters with unknown sources involves a family in Greater Taipei and their contacts, which has recorded eight cases; another comprises four schools in Taoyuan, with 34 cases; and the third one involves a family in Kaohsiung and a tour group they contacted, with 20 cases.
The one cluster with a known source began with a woman who returned from the US and infected her sister, who delivered her meals during quarantine. It has recorded five cases to date.
The CECC also reported 82 imported cases, including 65 who tested positive upon arrival. It did not release the vaccination statuses of the imported cases.
Taiwan to date has confirmed 21,081 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,475 domestically transmitted infections.
No deaths were reported yesterday, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities remaining at 853.
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