The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported no new domestic or imported COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day.
The last time the nation had no new cases for consecutive days was 109 days ago, when no cases were reported from Oct. 25 to 27 last year, it said.
Answering questions about a Vietnamese news report that a 39-year-old Taiwanese woman who arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Jan. 28 tested positive in a second COVID-19 test on Thursday, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said the center has contacted Vietnam’s National IHR Focal Point for details.
Photo: CNA
However, it has not received any response yet, as Vietnam is also celebrating the Lunar New Year holiday, he said.
Although the case might be a false positive, the patient have contracted the disease in Vietnam or might have been asymptomatic in Taiwan, the CECC would “treat it as a domestic case and conduct contact tracing immediately,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
“We will not let a spark become a great fire,” he said.
Chen also shared his thoughts after visiting a centralized quarantine facility in Taichung earlier in the day.
“Centralized quarantine facilities are an important line of defense against COVID-19, which can be viewed as an extension of border controls,” he said.
Chen said more than 25,000 people have stayed in centralized quarantine facilities in the past year, and 331 confirmed cases were detected among them, accounting for about one-third of all the confirmed cases in Taiwan.
High-risk people and those who have violated quarantine orders have been sent to stay at centralized quarantine facilities, he said.
Some quarantine rooms were severely damaged after people who broke home quarantine were compelled to stay at the facilities, but facility personnel calmed them down and monitored their health conditions, he added.
There would have been a risk of community spread if a few people broke quarantine, but with the help of specialized personnel at the facilities, no one broke quarantine and no cluster infection occurred, Chen said.
Giving updates on a cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital, Chen said 4,346 people associated with the cluster are still under 14 days of home isolation, meaning they spent the Lunar New Year holiday in isolation.
Among the 21 confirmed cases in the cluster, six have been released from isolation, six have mild symptoms, five are asymptomatic, two are on ventilators, one has pneumonia and one has died, he said.
Among 3,423 people associated with the hospital cluster who need to undergo a final polymerase chain reaction test, 3,414 have tested negative, and the remaining nine still need to be tested, he added.
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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