Sat, Jun 05, 2021 page1

• CECC reports 339 new local COVID-19 infections

  • By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
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  The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 339 new local cases of COVID-19, two imported cases, 133 backlogged cases and 21 deaths.

  Of the new local cases, 170 are male and 169 female, aged younger than five to older than 100, with an onset of symptoms from April 1 to Thursday, the center said.

  Of the backlogged cases, 57 are male and 76 female, with an onset of symptoms from May 18.

  

  Miaoli County Government staff yesterday spray disinfectant in an area that people who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 have visited.

  Photo: Chang Hsun-teng, Taipei Times

  Of the total 472 local cases, 227 are in New Taipei City, followed by 152 in Taipei, 51 in Miaoli County, 11 in Taoyuan and six in Changhua County, while Taichung and Keelung each reported seven cases, and Hsinchu City and Nantou County each reported two, the center said, adding that Chiayi, Hsinchu, Hualien, Pingtung, Yilan and Yunlin counties, as well as Kaohsiung, each reported one case.

  The 21 deaths — 14 men and seven women, aged in their 30s to 90s — had an onset of symptoms between May 15 and Thursday last week, and died between Thursday last week and Wednesday, it said.

  Among them, 19 had chronic diseases, one man in his 50s did not have any chronic illnesses and the medical history of another man in his 80s was still being reviewed, it said.

  In addition to outbreaks in Taipei and New Taipei City, the CECC is trying to contain an outbreak in Miaoli, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a daily news briefing in Taipei.

  Chip testing and packaging service provider King Yuan Electronics (京元電子) on Sunday reported that two Philippine workers staying at its dormitory in Jhunan Township (竹南) tested positive for the virus, prompting health authorities to conduct virus testing in the area, the center said.

  The company, based in Hsinchu City, has two plants in Miaoli’s Jhunan and Tongluo (銅鑼) townships.

  As of Thursday, 67 confirmed cases had been reported at the company, including 59 Philippine and eight Taiwanese employees, while another 323 people who have had contact with the cases are under investigation, the center said.

  The CECC has sent Hospital and Social Welfare Organizations Administration Commission Director Wang Pi-sheng (王必勝) to establish a command center in the county to help the local government with disease control efforts, Chen said.

  Ministry of Labor officials would also visit other dormitories of migrant workers to check the sanitary conditions, he said, adding that the government would review disease prevention measures for migrant workers in Miaoli, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu city and county.

  Separately, the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) administration bureau said it has set up a rapid virus screening station for migrant workers in a parking lot, which can test 800 to 1,000 people per day starting today.

  Those who test positive for the virus in a rapid test would receive a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and would be transported by designated taxis to isolation facilities to wait for the results of the PCR tests, the bureau said in a news release.

  There are more than 10,000 migrant workers at the science park, it said.

  Initial surveys found that nearly 4,000 workers are willing to receive rapid tests, while businesses at the park can also apply for self-paid rapid virus tests through the bureau, it said.
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