The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported a new imported case of COVID-19, a teenager who returned from the US this month, marking the 485th confirmed case in the nation.
CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the teen, who has been living in the US, returned to Taiwan to visit his family on Aug. 5, and records show his previous departure date from Taiwan was in September last year.
“As of yesterday, he has not experienced any symptoms, but he was tested for COVID-19 by a local health department on Saturday and confirmed positive yesterday,” Chuang said, adding that the teen has been isolated in a hospital for treatment.
The teenager wore a mask, protective goggles and gloves during the flight, did not experience any symptoms, and immediately went to a quarantine hotel after entering Taiwan, so the CECC did not list any contacts for self-isolation, but the center is to ask the local health department to clarify why it tested him, Chuang said.
Chuang yesterday also gave an update on the contact tracing of a 33-year-old Malaysian man who tested positive after returning to his native country from Taiwan, which the CECC reported on Saturday.
The man on Aug. 2 returned to Malaysia via Hong Kong and tested negative for COVID-19 at the airport upon his arrival, but tested positive on Friday after quarantine.
Chuang on Sunday said that the man’s Taiwanese wife told the center that he had only had close contact with five people during his stay in Taiwan since February.
Chuang yesterday said that the man on Sunday told the center that in the month prior to his departure, he mainly stayed at his home in northern Taiwan, only went out to buy meals — while wearing a mask — and did not meet with friends.
His wife’s polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antibody tests for COVID-19 both came back negative, while test results for four other close contacts have not yet come back, Chuang said.
The Malaysian government has said that the cycle threshold value of the man’s second PCR test was 37.93, which is relatively high, and in Taiwan would be considered a “weak positive,” Chuang said.
“Whether he has actually been infected is still unclear,” Chuang said, adding that the center would use the test results of the four contacts to assess the possible source of infection, but as his wife, who had the most frequent and close contact with the man, tested negative, the possibility of him having contracted the disease in Taiwan seems low.
Separately, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday morning announced that the city has 683 people who are under a 14-day quarantine order in hotels that are not designated quarantine hotels.
She said that if the hotels do not transfer these people to designated facilities by Friday the city government would publicize the names of the establishments.
Regarding Huang’s comments, Chuang said there are about 1,000 travelers arriving every day, so given the lack of quarantine capacity at designated hotels, the CECC has discussed with the Tourism Bureau about allowing general hotels to accommodate people under quarantine.
A standard operating procedure for disinfection has been drafted and would soon be published, and the hotels would not only have to conform to the procedures, but also submit a disease prevention plan to the local government before they can accommodate quarantined people, he said.
Chuang said the basic principle for home quarantine is that the person does not leave the space after they enter, having only one person in one space and using a separate bathroom, so that quarantine spaces are not limited to designated hotels, but can also be done at home, a legally rented place or other hotels.
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