The guidelines for diagnosing COVID-19 have been revised to include people aged 65 or older who test positive with a rapid test that is confirmed by a healthcare worker, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 65,794 new local infections.
The CECC had first announced the change on Monday, before publishing the new guidelines.
Starting today, people aged 65 or older, regardless of whether they are undergoing home quarantine, home isolation or self-disease prevention, can be classified as a confirmed COVID-19 case by a healthcare professional, based on a positive result from an antigen rapid test, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Photo: CNA
People in the age group can take the positive test cassette to a healthcare facility for a doctor to confirm the result, he said.
If they are undergoing home quarantine, home isolation or self-disease prevention, they can see a doctor through a telemedicine consultation or have someone else take the cassette to a doctor for assessment, he added.
Once the doctor confirms the positive result, they can report the patient as a confirmed case, and the local health department would carry on with the triage process and inform the patient to isolate at home or arrange other facilities, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
The CECC on Monday announced that close contacts of a confirmed case who have received a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine can be exempted from the “3+4” policy — three days of home isolation and four days of self-disease prevention — and instead follow the “0+7” policy, which means just seven days of self-disease prevention.
Chen yesterday said junior-high and high-school students who have received a booster dose can also follow the “0+7” policy if they are identified as a close contact.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) physician Chen Wan-ching (陳婉青) said a check box has been added to the column for each close contact in the online contact tracing self-reporting system, allowing the confirmed case to select whether the close contact has received a booster shot.
Ticking the check box means the close contact has received a booster shot, in which case they would not receive a home isolation notification, she said.
The CECC late on Monday said in a statement that close contacts who have received a booster shot can still follow the “3+4” policy if they wish.
Confirmed cases can edit the online contact tracing report only once within 24 hours after submitting the form, so they should make sure the information is correct before submitting it, the CECC said.
Asked if confirmed cases who have been released from isolation would be subject to the “3+4” or the “0+7” policy, Chen Wan-ching said confirmed cases who have recovered would not be identified as a close contact in the three months following infection, as their risk of reinfection is extremely low.
Meanwhile, CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), head of the CECC’s disease surveillance division, said 65,794 local COVID-19 infections, 39 imported cases and 38 deaths were confirmed yesterday.
As of Monday, 368 severe cases, including 282 deaths, have been reported this year, accounting for 0.05 percent of the total 803,337 local cases this year, he said.
Of the 38 deaths, 17 were aged 80 or older, and only one had no underlying health conditions, the CECC said, adding that 18 were unvaccinated and 24 had not received a booster shot.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all