The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 49 new COVID-19 infections, comprising 45 imported and four local cases, indicating better control of local outbreaks.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that three of the local cases tested positive while in isolation, and the overall local COVID-19 situation is gradually being brought under control.
The only new local case confirmed yesterday is the wife of a previous case — No. 20,028, reported on Sunday as an imported case under investigation.
Photo courtesy of the Miaoli County Government via CNA
Chen said case that No. 20,028 tested positive after being released from quarantine on Jan. 31, so the center had suspected that he might have contracted the disease in Taiwan.
Contact tracing discovered that case No. 20,028 and his wife had eaten at a restaurant where a local case — No. 19665, an interior designer in New Taipei City — had eaten at about the same time on Feb. 9, he said, adding that therefore case No. 20,028 was reclassified as a local infection.
Among the three other local infections, two cases are linked to a cluster of infections involving a CPC oil refinery in Kaohsiung — a friend of an infected refinery worker and a family member of an infected client in Tainan.
One other case is a family member of an infected airport police officer.
Chen said that a previous imported case — No. 18,874 in New Taipei City — has been reclassified as a local infection from a quarantine hotel.
Two other previous local infections have been determined to be quarantine hotel transmissions in Taipei and Kaohsiung — No. 19,340 and No. 19,530 respectively, he said.
Since December last year, 22 people have contracted COVID-19 in 14 quarantine hotels, including 20 who were originally considered imported cases and later reclassified as local cases.
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 eight chains of unknown origin are being monitored.
The origin of a Kaohsiung quarry cluster has become evident after case No. 19,530 was found to have contracted the virus in a quarantine hotel.
Chen said that the number of local cases reported from Monday last week to Sunday dropped by 42 percent, compared with the week before, showing that the local COVID-19 situation has come under control since the Lunar New Year holidays.
An easing of restrictions is planned for the near future, he said, adding that masks and social distancing would still be required, but mask mandates could be lifted at some sites.
A shortened mandatory quarantine period for inbound travelers, down to 10 days from 14, is based on scientific evidence showing that 99 percent of infected travelers are expected to be detected within 10 days, Chen said.
Those with undetectable viral loads are unlikely to be infectious, he added.
The future COVID-19 prevention goal is not to achieve zero risk, but to achieve a controllable low-risk situation, he said.
Although daily case numbers reported in many countries are dropping, the numbers are still relatively high, so people must still remain vigilant and get vaccinated to prevent severe illness or death from COVID-19, Chen said, adding that the center’s attitude is to “remain vigilant, but not be afraid.”
Chen said that 229,599 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Sunday, bringing the first-dose vaccination rate to 82.61 percent full vaccination rate to 76.24 percent and booster dose rate to 36.4 percent.
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