The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 19 imported cases of COVID-19 and 14 newly confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said the imported cases are nine men and 10 women who arrived from Cambodia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Laos, Switzerland, Turkey, the US and Vietnam.
The case from Kazakhstan is a Taiwanese woman in her 20s, who traveled there to attend the Asian Karate Championships with a national team of 22 people.
Twelve members of the team have already tested positive for COVID-19, and were reported as confirmed cases on Sunday and Monday.
Meanwhile, genome sequencing results showed that 14 previously reported imported cases were infected with the Omicron variant, Chuang said, adding that a total of 48 imported Omicron cases have so far been identified in Taiwan.
Among the 14 new Omicron cases identified yesterday, seven are members of the Taiwanese karate team who returned from Kazakhstan, he said.
Among the 13 COVID-19 cases from the karate team, two had received one dose of a vaccine, and 11 had received a second dose between July and last month, Chuang said.
The center would ask the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to advise whether national sports teams traveling abroad should be allowed to receive a booster shot sooner than required after their second dose, he said.
The karate team members would be interviewed to determine the possible causes of infection, he added.
As the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) on Monday recommended that the isolation time for people who test positive for COVID-19 but have no symptoms be shortened from 10 days to five, requiring them to wear a mask around others for another five days, the CECC was asked if Taiwan might also shorten isolation and quarantine times.
As the US CDC had just issued the statement, the center would look into the related reference material and discuss it with the specialist advisory panel, Chuang said.
He said that 53,558 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Monday, bringing the nation’s first-dose vaccination rate to 79.83 percent, second-dose rate to 67.26 percent and third-dose rate to 0.45 percent.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS