The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported five imported cases of COVID-19, including a case who returned to Taiwan in August, but tested positive on Tuesday.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said the five cases are four men and one woman, aged between 20 and 50.
They arrived from India, Indonesia and Lithuania from Aug. 20 to Monday, Chuang said.
Photo: CNA
Three of the imported cases are vaccine breakthrough infections, said CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.
One of the breakthrough cases is a Taiwanese woman who returned from India on Aug. 20, but tested positive in a self-paid test on Tuesday, he said.
She stayed in India between February and August, and quarantined in a centralized facility, Lo said, adding that she tested negative on Aug. 21 and upon ending quarantine on Sept. 2.
He said a family member living with the woman, who had returned from India on Aug. 13, tested positive in a self-paid test on Sept. 6, so the woman was placed under home isolation again and tested negative on Sept. 7 and Sept. 18.
The woman was preparing to leave the country, so she took a self-paid test on Tuesday, which came back positive with a high cycle threshold value of 35, indicating a low viral load, Lo said, adding that she tested negative yesterday.
She tested positive for antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein and the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, but tested negative for IgM and IgG, meaning that she was likely to have had a previous infection, he said.
Two of the woman’s family members tested negative for COVID-19, but positive for COVID-19 antibodies, so the three are likely to have contracted the disease in India and recovered, supposedly posing very little risk to the local community, he added.
A Taipei branch of Taiwan’s largest gym chain yesterday announced that it would be temporarily closed yesterday afternoon and today in cooperation with the Taipei Department of Health’s disease prevention regulations.
Asked whether the closure was associated with the imported case, Lo said that as the case tested positive after being released from quarantine, she must have visited locations in the community.
Meanwhile, the first phase of bookings for rooms in a centralized quarantine facility, for people arriving in Taiwan between Dec. 14 and Feb. 14, began at 10am yesterday.
Chuang said that 583 rooms had been booked as of 1pm.
Only fully vaccinated people who choose the “7+7 (+7)” quarantine option can book a room in a centralized quarantine facility during this period, he said, adding that they can only stay at the facility for seven days, for NT$1,500 per day.
Once travelers have booked and paid for a room online, they cannot change the dates or ask for a refund, Chuang said.
The only exception would bepeople who booked a room for NT$2,000 per day in a centralized quarantine facility for 14 days between Dec. 14 and Dec. 31 through a previous program, he said.
They would be allowed to change their stay to seven days and ask for a refund, he said.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
TOO DANGEROUS: The families agreed to suspend crewed recovery efforts that could put rescuers in danger from volcanic gases and unstable terrain The bodies of two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot have been located inside a volcanic crater, Japanese authorities said yesterday, nearly a month after a sightseeing helicopter crashed during a flight over southwestern Japan. Drone footage taken at the site showed three bodies near the wreckage of the aircraft inside a crater on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, police and fire officials said. The helicopter went missing on Jan. 20 and was later found on a steep slope inside the Nakadake No. 1 Crater, about 50m below the rim. Authorities said that conditions at the site made survival highly unlikely, and ruled
RSS