The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 21 local COVID-19 cases, including 10 workers at a technology plant in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林).
The 21 local infections comprise 11 cases in New Taipei City, five in Keelung, four in Kaohsiung and one in Taoyuan, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC spokesman.
Nine cases in New Taipei City and the one in Taoyuan are linked to a cluster at a technology plant in Shulin District, where 10 workers were on Thursday and Friday found to have COVID-19.
Photo courtesy of the Keelung City Government
The company is continuing to test its 900 employees, Chuang said, adding that contact tracing is ongoing to find the source of infection.
One of the other cases in New Taipei City is a man in his 20s living in Jhonghe District (中和), who had a fever, runny nose and sore throat on Thursday before testing positive, Chuang said.
The man is not a close contact of any previous case, although he lives near a case reported on Friday, he added.
Another new case in New Taipei City is a woman in Sanchong District (三重) who tested positive on Friday in a self-paid test before being hospitalized, he said.
The five cases in Keelung are linked to a cluster of infections reported on Friday involving police officers, Chuang said.
Those cases include one police officer, a friend of a previous case, and three people who ate at a restaurant at about the same time as previous cases, he said.
The four local cases in Kaohsiung are linked to a previous cluster reported on Thursday among workers at a chemical plant, comprising three other workers and one family member.
Two of them tested positive while in isolation, Chuang said, adding that the infection source is yet to be determined.
Taiwan yesterday also reported 82 imported COVID-19 infections, Chuang said.
Meanwhile, a gift worth up to NT$200 is being offered until Thursday to people aged 18 or older when receiving a first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Chuang said.
Taiwan’s first, second and booster dose vaccination rates have reached 83.36 percent, 78.18 percent and 49.1 percent respectively as of Friday, he said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
WATCH FOR HITCHHIKERS: The CDC warned those returning home from Japan to be alert for any contagious diseases that might have come back with them People who have returned from Japan following the World Baseball Classic (WBC) games during the weekend are recommended to watch for symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis, flu and measles for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Flu viruses remain the most common respiratory pathogen in Taiwan in the past four weeks and the influenza B virus accounted for 55.7 percent of the tested cases, exceeding the percentage of influenza A (H3N2) infections and becoming the local dominant strain, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said at a news conference on Tuesday. There were 82,187 hospital visits for
RSS