Taiwan yesterday recorded six new imported cases of COVID-19 and two new domestic cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that the local infections are linked to the cluster at Taoyuan General Hospital, which now totals 12 cases.
One of the domestic cases is a man in his 90s, who was treated earlier this month at Taoyuan General Hospital and tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday last week, four days before he was discharged, the center said in a statement.
After one of the nurses on the ward was confirmed on Saturday last week to have contracted COVID-19, the man was instructed to quarantine at home, but he developed a severe toothache and was allowed to visit a dentist on Thursday, the center said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
During that visit to a branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, he was found to have a fever, and subsequent diagnostic tests found that he had a lung condition associated with pneumonia, it added.
The man was then tested again for COVID-19, and the results returned positive yesterday, it said, adding that he is the oldest person in Taiwan to have contracted the virus.
A member of his family, a woman in her 60s who lives in the same home, was also confirmed yesterday to have contracted the virus, the center said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Two other relatives in the home, who usually take care of the elderly man, tested negative on Sunday, but are now in home quarantine, it said.
At a news conference in Taipei, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, declined to say whether it was the Linkou (林口) or Taoyuan branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital that the man had visited.
Since Tuesday last week, when the first case at Taoyuan General Hospital was reported, 12 infections have been confirmed in the cluster, including two doctors, four nurses, a migrant caregiver and three relatives of the nurses.
The six new imported cases of COVID-19 were arrivals from Cameroon, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Of the nation’s 881 cases of COVID-19, 774 are imported. Seven of those infected have died, while 777 have recovered and 97 are being treated in hospitals.
Separately yesterday, the Taiwan Railways Administration announced that it would stop leasing public space inside train stations to event organizers.
Eating and drinking are banned in the main hall of the Taipei Railway Station, and people should not congregate there, it added.
Disease prevention measures, such as social distancing and setting up plastic shields on tabletops, have been implemented in the food court of the station, the agency said, adding that it plans to install 16 more infrared thermometers before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Additional reporting by Cheng Wei-chi
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS