The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the fifth COVID-19 case in a cluster infection at a Taoyuan hospital, where four other medical workers were confirmed to have been infected over the past week.
The latest case is a nurse who had tested negative on Tuesday last week, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news conference.
However, on Thursday, she developed symptoms, such as nasal congestion and a cough, and a second test yesterday found that she was infected, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
She is the head nurse of a ward where two doctors previously tested positive, the CECC said.
The first medical personnel to be infected — one of the doctors — most likely caught the virus from a Taiwanese man in his 60s who is being treated at the hospital after returning from the US late last month and developing a severe COVID-19 infection.
The doctor later infected his partner — a nurse at the hospital — as well as another nurse and the other doctor.
The CECC has refused to name the hospital, but Chen at yesterday’s news conference accidentally revealed that it is “the ministry’s Taoyuan General Hospital.”
Asked for confirmation, Chen said that the Taoyuan hospital is the site of the cluster infection.
The CECC said it would set up a command center at the hospital to monitor the situation.
Patients who were cared for by the infected medical personnel have all been transferred to single rooms, it said, adding that the hospital would not admit new inpatients nor allow hospital visits.
The CECC also reported six new imported cases of COVID-19 infection. Three of the cases are members of a Taiwanese family who live in the US and returned home on Jan. 4, Chen said.
The mother, who is in her 40s, reported symptoms such as a cough, fatigue and fever while in quarantine, and her COVID-19 test came back positive yesterday, Chen said.
Her son and daughter, both under 10 years old, also tested positive, but have been asymptomatic so far, Chen said.
One of the other cases is a Swedish man in his 50s who works in Taiwan. He traveled to the UK early last month for work, returned to Taiwan on Jan. 3 and tested negative for COVID-19 a day later.
However, a test conducted at the end of his quarantine period came back positive, Chen said.
All travelers arriving from the UK are tested for COVID-19 at the start and end of their mandatory 14-day quarantine period.
The fifth case is a teenage student from the Philippines who arrived in Taiwan on Dec. 31 and tested positive for COVID-19 the day after her quarantine ended, Chen said.
Five people who traveled in the same vehicle with her have been quarantined, he said.
The sixth imported case is a Burmese man who works as a crew member on a ship.
He tested positive after completing 14 day of quarantine and seven days of self-health management, Chen said.
Taiwan has so far recorded 862 cases of COVID-19 infection, 762 of which are imported. Of the total, 756 people have recovered, seven have died and 99 are in hospital, CECC data showed.
Additional reporting by Lin Hui-chin and Yang Yuan-ting
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
Intelligence agents have recorded 510,000 instances of “controversial information” being spread online by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so far this year, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report yesterday, as it warned of artificial intelligence (AI) being employed to generate destabilizing misinformation. The bureau submitted a written report to the Legislative Yuan in preparation for National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee today. The CCP has been using cognitive warfare to divide Taiwanese society by commenting on controversial issues such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investments in the
‘SPECIAL CHANNEL’: Taipei’s most important tasks are to stabilize industries affected by Trump’s trade tariffs and keep negotiations with Washington open, a source said National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the US for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel,” the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump’s first use of the channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also a part of the delegation. The visit came days after China concluded war games around Taiwan and amid Trump’s
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
RSS