The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new domestic COVID-19 case, a doctor at a hospital in northern Taiwan where three other medical workers were confirmed to have the disease over the past week.
The new case — No. 856 — is a doctor who had treated a COVID-19 patient together with case No. 838, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Case No. 838, confirmed as a locally infected COVID-19 case on Tuesday, was the first case in the hospital cluster, and later infected his partner, who is a nurse at the same hospital.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Chen yesterday said the two doctors came in contact with each other on Jan. 10, when they were treating a patient of case No. 856.
As case No. 856 had previously tested negative for COVID-19, and since the two doctors wore masks and other protective equipment during their interaction on Jan. 10, case No. 856 had been under self-health management, but not quarantined, Chen said.
However, when a third colleague — a nurse — tested positive on Saturday, case No. 856 was tested again along with 265 other employees at the hospital, and his result came back positive yesterday, said Chen, who again refused to name the hospital.
Of the 265 employees, another 224 have tested negative, while the tests of the remaining 40 are being processed, Chen added.
While the latest infection is the fourth case related to the hospital, Chen said the CECC is not considering locking down the hospital, as the source of the infection has been identified and “the situation is being actively contained.”
Regarding the second infected nurse, the CECC said that three family members she lives with have tested negative for COVID-19.
The test of another person living in the same residence is being processed, it said.
As for contacts of the newly infected doctor, the CECC said contact-tracing was still ongoing.
Patients who were cared for by the infected medical personnel have all been transferred to single rooms, Chen said.
Besides the locally transmitted case, Taiwan also reported three new imported cases yesterday, all Indonesian migrant workers in their 20s who came to Taiwan to work as fishers, the CECC said.
Meanwhile, Chen had become the focus of concern after he was seen coughing and wearing a mask during a news conference on Saturday night.
Chen yesterday said he had had a fever and a cough, and underwent two COVID-19 tests to rule out the possibility of infection.
His test result was negative, Chen said.
Additional reporting by CNA
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)