The mandatory COVID-19 testing at long-term care facilities is to be extended until the end of next month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported that the number of new local cases dropped slightly to 44,601.
Under the mandatory testing program, residents or care receivers are required to take a rapid test twice a week and if they exhibit symptoms of COVID-19, while people with disabilities or dementia, and those aged two to 18 are required to get tested once a week, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said.
Residents and care receivers aged two or younger are not required to get tested, but if they show possible suspected symptoms of COVID-19, they should be taken to a healthcare facility for a polymerase chain reaction test, the CECC said.
Long-term care facility workers are required to get a rapid test once a week and if they show possible symptoms of COVID-19, Wang said.
People at care facilities who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within three months are not required to get tested, the CECC said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) on Tuesday reported that the testing positivity rates of residents and workers at care facilities relatively have remained at about 1 percent — ranging from 0.8 percent to 1.4 percent — since late August, when a local outbreak of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 began.
CDC Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) reported 44,601 new local cases, 27 imported cases and 42 deaths.
The local caseload was 10 percent lower than on Wednesday last week, Chou said.
Wang said that the rate of decline in local cases was greater than that of last week and was down for a second consecutive week.
If the trend continues, Taiwan should see case numbers fall from a plateau, he added.
Lo said that one of the death cases was imported — a Taiwanese woman in her 40s who had cancer and was not vaccinated against COVID-19.
She arrived in Taiwan on Oct. 9. tested positive at a quarantine hotel on Thursday last week, but was found in a coma on Saturday and died of COVID-19 infection and cardiopulmonary failure, Lo said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
Singapore is to allow imports of Taiwanese raw pork for the first time in 15 years, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. The Singapore Food Agency has approved imports of fresh pork produced by New Taipei City-based Cha I Shan Foods, which had obtained a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification from the ministry to export to Singapore, it said. The ministry said it had hoped Singapore would permit Taiwanese fresh pork imports in addition to processed pork products. Singapore agreed to accept Taiwanese fresh pork after completing a document review and a virtual tour of Cha I Shan Foods’ packing
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