The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported seven imported COVID-19 cases, but no locally transmitted infections or deaths.
The cases were Taiwanese, Burmese and Indonesian nationals, who arrived from Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore between Sept. 27 and Friday, the CECC said in a news release.
It did not hold its daily news conference due to Double Ten National Day celebrations.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, there have been discussions about whether contact tracing should be conducted for cases with low viral loads and high levels of antibodies, which indicate that the infected person did not contract the disease recently.
Experts say that these cases are unlikely to be contagious.
The discussions emerged after the center on Saturday reported the first local COVID-19 case this month — a one-year-old girl who had COVID-19 antibodies and a cycle threshold value of 38, indicating that the child was not infected recently.
However, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital deputy superintendent Chiu Cheng-hsun (邱政洵) said that contract tracing should be conducted for such cases.
While there have been fewer domestic cases, regular testing is important to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation in communities, especially as the center gradually eases disease prevention rules, said Chiu, who also works as a physician in the hospital’s pediatric infection division.
The hospital tests about 600 to 700 people for COVID-19 every day, and occasionally as many as 1,000 people, Chiu said, adding that cases such as the infant’s are sometimes detected.
Contact tracing would also help confirm that the cases have not recently had contact with an infected person, he added.
Cases with low viral loads and high antibody levels pose a very low risk of spreading the virus, but people with compromised immune systems might still be at risk if they are in close contact with such a case, Chiu said.
Separately, Kaohsiung Municipal United Hospital on Saturday said that its deputy superintendent had been reprimanded after COVID-19 vaccines were given to 42 ineligible people who work for Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC).
The superintendent has also asked the hospital to punish his deputy for failing to fulfill his supervisory responsibilities, it said, adding that the request would have to be approved by the Kaohsiung Department of Health.
Local media reported that the 42 THSRC employees on Sept. 22 asked to get inoculated with Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, claiming that they were in priority group 3 — frontline workers with a high contact risk — even though they were in group 7.
After hospital staff initially refused to vaccinate them, there was a dispute.
To end the standoff, the deputy superintendent reportedly ordered staff to vaccinate the 42.
THSRC on Oct. 1 said in a statement that employees who make false statements to get vaccinated would be punished.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and