The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 11 local COVID-19 cases, including seven linked to a cluster involving workers at a quarry in northern Kaohsiung, and a janitor at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the janitor initially tested negative while isolating after cases among airport workers were detected last month.
She also tested negative in a regular test after her release from isolation on Jan. 21, Chen added.
Photo courtesy of the CECC
She tested positive on Friday with a relatively high cycle threshold value and is to undergo another test to confirm the diagnosis, Chen said.
Two other cases in Taoyuan are family members of an imported case, a man who returned from China on Jan. 23, he said.
The man received three doses of the Chinese-made Zifivax COVID-19 vaccine and initially tested negative upon ending his mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine on Monday, but later experienced symptoms while observing self-health management protocols at home, Chen said.
He tested positive on Friday, he said, adding that the source of infection is under investigation, but the CECC suspects cross infection at the hotel.
His wife tested negative, but his two daughters tested positive, Chen said.
Another case is a man in Tainan, who visited a restaurant in Miaoli County on Thursday last week — the same day, but not the same time, as cases of a family cluster including five infected sisters visited the restaurant, Chen said, adding that the CECC is investigating possible links between the cases.
The remaining seven local cases are linked to a cluster involving workers at a quarry in Kaohsiung that emerged in the past few days, he said.
Five of the new quarry cases are Miaoli-based relatives of an infected worker, who visited a family reunion in the county during the Lunar New Year holiday, Chen said, adding that the remaining two new cases are another worker and a member of his family.
The quarry cluster has 27 cases, CECC data showed.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division, said that the five infected sisters had the same strain of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 as the Kaohsiung Harbor cluster, citing genome sequencing results.
Three migrant workers at a Career Technology factory in New Taipei City were infected with the same Omicron strain as a Taoyuan airport cluster, which also led to cluster infections linked to a Tasty restaurant, a Chien Tu Hot Pot restaurant and a Askey Computer factory in Taoyuan.
Most active clusters are linked to Taoyuan airport or Kaohsiung Harbor, with only a few infection chains remaining of unclear origin.
Taiwan yesterday also reported 49 imported COVID-19 cases — 23 people who tested positive upon arrival, and 26 who tested positive during or upon ending quarantine, CECC data showed.
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