The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported five domestic COVID-19 infections and 39 imported cases, while also confirming that details of a shortened quarantine period for inbound business travelers would be announced later this week.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the five domestic infections confirmed yesterday all tested positive during isolation and are linked to two previous local clusters.
Four local cases are family members of participants of a religious gathering in Taipei on Feb. 13, of which 28 participants have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while the other local case is a family member of a case linked to the cluster involving members of a CPC Corp, Taiwan oil refinery in Kaohsiung, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that a family cluster in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) reported on Feb. 8 has been closed, as no new cases linked to the cluster have been detected in the past 14 days.
With the cluster removed from monitoring, there are seven local transmission chains with unknown infection sources that are being closely monitored, Lo said.
The 39 imported cases included nine inbound travelers who tested positive at airports upon their arrival and 30 people who tested positive in quarantine, Chen said.
The nine people who tested positive at airports were among 415 passengers on 11 flights who arrived on Monday — a positivity rate of 2.17 percent, he said.
Chen was asked when the quarantine period for inbound travelers would be shortened from 14 to 10 days and entry for foreign business travelers would be reopened, and whether self-isolation for close contacts of a confirmed case would also be shortened.
He said details about the policy would be announced later this week, as the CECC is still discussing whether the self-isolation period should be shortened.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said booking an appointment to receive a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the 24th round of national vaccinations would begin today.
People who are 18 or older and received their second dose of vaccine on or before Dec. 12 last year would be eligible for a booster shot, or approximately 6.46 million people, Chuang said.
Eligible recipients aged 55 or older can start booking their appointment on the 1922.gov.tw online booking platform from 10am today, while those aged 38 to 54 can start booking at midday and those aged 18 to 37 at 2pm, he said.
The deadline for booking an appointment is midday on Friday, he added.
The vaccinations are to take place between Monday next week and March 6, Chuang said, adding that about 16,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 360,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 1.2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and 72,000 doses of the Medigen vaccine would be offered.
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