The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 10 local and 79 imported cases of COVID-19, and announced stricter rules on toasting at wedding banquets.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the imported cases include 26 people who tested positive upon arrival at the airport on Monday, and 53 who tested positive during or upon ending quarantine.
Local media reports said that one of the imported cases was a visitor from Belize who came to Taiwan for the Smart City Summit & Expo in Taipei under a “diplomatic bubble,” which exempts visitors from mandatory quarantine, and did not receive a COVID-19 test upon arrival at the airport on Monday.
Asked for confirmation, Chen said the case was among a group of foreign participants at the expo, but that they traveled under a “special bubble,” which is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, not under a diplomatic bubble.
He said the CECC requires the competent authority to make sure that foreign visitors traveling under such a bubble are tested on the day of arrival, but with fewer restrictions on testing methods, so some of the arrivals were tested at their hotel rooms.
Of the 10 local cases, Chen said two tested positive upon ending isolation and were close contacts of previous cases.
Six of the local cases are linked to a cluster of infections involving participants at a wedding banquet on March 13 in Chiayi City, he said, adding that so far the cluster has expanded to 16 cases, including 10 people who attended the banquet.
An examination of the banquet’s seating chart shows that the infected cases were seated in the same corner of the venue, but across five tables, and that one case — No. 22,137, who showed possible symptoms of COVID-19 on the day of the wedding — had toasted people at different tables, Chen said.
As such, the CECC is banning “giving toasts at each table during banquets, effective immediately,” he added.
People who attend banquets can still take off their mask when eating, but they are advised to put on their masks when they leave their seats, he said.
They can still take off their masks, keep a proper social distance and make a toast to attendees on stage, rather than at each table, he added.
As for taking group photos, Chen said people can temporarily remove their masks, but are not “required” to take them off, as the center still advises people to keep their masks on in crowded settings.
Three of the new local cases are in Taipei, including a nurse at the emergency department of Taipei City Hospital’s Heping Branch, and two family members, Chen said.
The nurse began showing symptoms on Monday and was immediately tested. She had tested negative on Friday last week, but was exposed to two imported cases on Saturday. One came from Malaysia and had a low cycle threshold (CT) value of 14 (indicating a high viral load) and a negative antibody test, and the other came from the US, with a high CT value of 30 and a positive antibody test (indicating a previous infection), Chen said.
The nurse was likely to have been infected by the person from Malaysia, but genome sequencing is needed for confirmation, he added.
Another local case is linked to a previous cluster in southern Taiwan, involving a tour group and a Tainan hospital, he said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said that the 28th round of booking a booster dose appointment through the national online COVID-19 vaccination booking system (1922.gov.tw) is to start today and end at 12pm on Friday.
The vaccines are to be administered between Monday and Sunday next week, he said.
The 1922 booking system is to be suspended from Friday next week, so people who have booked an appointment can still get vaccinated, but should remember the details of their appointment, as they can no longer check with the system after Thursday next week, he said.
From Friday next week, people who want to get vaccinated against COVID-19 can check the vaccination locations and related information on the CDC’s Web site, and book an appointment or go to a walk-in vaccine station.
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