Physicians and a public health specialist urged people to remain extra cautious and practice disease prevention measures, as they believe the number of COVID-19 infections might increase after the Lunar New Year holiday.
The local COVID-19 situation would be closely monitored as family reunions and traveling during the holiday might cause the virus to spread faster across the nation, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said on Friday.
Although the incubation period for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is shorter, the center must monitor the situation for at least seven to 10 days, or from Monday last week to Thursday, he said.
On Saturday, Chiang Kuan-yu (姜冠宇), an attending physician at Taipei City Hospital’s Zhongxing branch, wrote on Facebook that people who have a higher risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and are unwilling to get vaccinated, but who joined family members during the holiday, should be especially careful after people return to work.
During the holiday, many people met with family and department stores were crowded with shoppers, while contact tracing and testing is to resume at a regular level after people return to work, so the number of local cases might increase after the holiday, he wrote.
Citing a recently published study, Chiang said that many people in South Africa developed immunity against COVID-19 in previous waves of infection and many were vaccinated, meaning that the severity of the Omicron variant among those without immunity might be underestimated.
People should not think of getting infected with the Omicron variant as a “natural vaccine,” he said, adding that getting a booster dose of the vaccine is crucial.
Separately on Saturday, a physician surnamed Kung (孔), who worked in Taiwan University Hospital’s infectious disease division and uses the pseudonym Lin Shi-bi (林氏壁) on social media, wrote on Facebook that while many local cases reported during the holiday tested positive during isolation and are linked to known clusters, he remains concerned.
Fewer polymerase chain reaction tests were conducted during the holiday than in previous weeks, and some people who had symptoms during the holiday might have waited to be tested, he wrote, adding that the challenge would begin after the holiday.
People who have respiratory symptoms should get tested for COVID-19 so that the authorities can understand whether the Omicron variant has spread within local communities, he wrote.
The situation should be monitored for one to two weeks, he added.
The United Daily News yesterday cited National Taiwan University College of Public Health professor Tony Chen (陳秀熙) as saying that the next wave of infections might occur between the beginning and middle of next month, so people should be prepared.
Chen said that by then, the immunity of many people who received a second dose of the Moderna or the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines would have waned.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS