The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one local case of COVID-19, which might be related to cluster infections in May, and 10 imported cases.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center, said the local case is an Indonesian woman in her 30s who lives in New Taipei City.
The woman did not have symptoms, but tested positive in a self-paid test she took in preparation for leaving Taiwan on Friday, he said.
The woman in May had contact with a cluster infection at work, Chen said.
She had a high cycle threshold value of 37.3, indicating a low viral load, and was positive for COVID-19 antibodies, suggesting an earlier infection source that might be associated with the cluster, he said.
Contact tracing is ongoing, Chen added.
The woman left the job late last month and has not been to the workplace since Oct. 1, he said, adding that so far three people — two friends and a person who had close contact with her at a healthcare facility — have been placed under home isolation.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division, said that the New Taipei City Government has asked the center to conduct genome sequencing to identify the SARS-CoV-2 variant of the case.
Although the center agreed to try, Lo said it could be difficult to achieve, as she was shown to have a low viral load and a second test came back negative.
The imported cases are six men and four women who arrived from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the UK or the US between Oct. 1 and Thursday, Chen said.
Seven of the imported cases were considered breakthrough infections, including five people who were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, one with the Sinovac vaccine and one with the Janssen vaccine, Lo said.
Moreover, people who are eligible to be vaccinated in the 12th round of national COVID-19 vaccinations should pay attention to the dates for reserving an appointment in the round’s two booking phases, the earliest of which starts at 10am tomorrow, Chen said.
Regarding Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi on Friday saying that Japan plans to donate more COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that the number of vaccine doses and the arrival date of the donated vaccines are still being discussed, so vaccination plans would be decided after a date is confirmed.
Additional reporting by Chien Hui-ju
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