The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new local COVID-19 infection, six imported cases and one death.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center, said the local case is woman in her 30s who lives in New Taipei City and had been in isolation since Sept. 7, as she was identified as a close contact of two previous cases.
The woman was tested upon ending her isolation on Monday and the result came back positive, he said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said the woman lives with two previous cases reported earlier this month — an elementary-school student and his grandmother — so it is likely a family cluster of infections.
He said the child and his grandmother had low viral loads and tested positive for antibodies when they were diagnosed with COVID-19, so they were likely infected for a while before testing positive, adding that the new case also had a relatively low viral load and she would be tested for antibodies to further clarify the possible infection period.
The six imported cases are three males and three females, aged under five to older than 50, who arrived from Cambodia, Myanmar, the UK and the US, Chen said.
The death was a man who returned from Vietnam on Aug. 6, suffered symptoms including a fever and sore throat on Aug. 17, and tested positive on Aug. 18 before his quarantine ended, he said.
Lo said the man had chronic diabetes and suffered severe pneumonia when he was hospitalized after testing positive, and although the antiviral drug remdesivir was used as part of his treatment, he died of multiple organ failure on Monday.
As previously reported, the man had been infected with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, he said, adding that it was the third death from the Delta variant in Taiwan.
Regarding a cluster of infections of the Delta variant associated with a preschool and a residential building in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), Lo said that about 380 people who live in the building were receiving polymerase chain reaction tests upon ending their isolation yesterday.
If they test negative for COVID-19, they would be released from isolation, and the infection risk at the preschool and the building could be considered to have ended, he said.
However, close contacts of two cases reported in Taoyuan, including a colleague of a confirmed case in the preschool cluster, would continue to be monitored until Monday next week, and the close contacts of the last confirmed case would need to be monitored until Wednesday next week, he added.
Lo said the center is also discussing a plan to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to the building’s residents.
Meanwhile, asked if people who have received one dose of vaccine in another nation can receive a second dose in Taiwan, Chen said they should report their vaccination status to their local health department and the department would assist them in getting a second shot of vaccine.
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