The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported two locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, four imported cases and no deaths, adding that no new cases linked to an aircrew cluster have been found.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the two local cases are a married couple — a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s, who live in New Taipei City.
The man began experiencing a fever, headache, fatigue and coughing on Wednesday last week, sought treatment on Saturday and tested positive for COVID-19, he said.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
The woman, a kindergarten teacher, experienced coughing and an abnormal sense of smell between Aug. 27 and Monday last week, Chen said, adding that she was placed under isolation and tested on Saturday after her husband tested positive.
Fifty close contacts of the couple have been put under home isolation, while the infection risk of a further 49 contacts of the 50 people is being evaluated, he said.
The four imported cases are from Burkina Faso, Japan, Serbia and the US, the center said.
Meanwhile, Chen said that testing on 315 close contacts of two previously confirmed vaccine breakthrough infections — Taiwan-based airline pilots who tested positive on Friday — has been completed.
One of the pilot’s sons tested positive last week, while 269 others tested negative and 45 are waiting for results, Chen said.
All 224 close contacts of the son and 2,656 students at his school also tested negative, he said.
The airline’s expanded testing on 283 crew members who had flown to Chicago in the past 14 days showed that 262 tested negative, eight were waiting for test results, and 13 are abroad and are to be tested when they return, Chen said.
CECC specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said that the panel’s earlier suggestion was that fully vaccinated airline crew members be tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and receive follow-up tests every three months, and the tests showed that very few among them — seven people — did not produce antibodies.
He said that the panel and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have been discussing whether the seven people should receive a vaccine booster shot.
Asked if the aircrew cluster could affect the CECC’s regulations on Mid-Autumn Festival activities, such as outdoor barbecuing, Chen said the center plans to monitor the local COVID-19 situation for seven days before making further decisions.
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