The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed that an imported case tested positive for COVID-19 after completing quarantine and returning home, saying that it is investigating whether she could have contracted the virus at a quarantine hotel.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) on Tuesday afternoon said that a COVID-19 case had tested positive with a low cycle threshold value, indicating a high viral load, after being released from 14-day quarantine.
The case had not been made public by the center, and similar cases might pose a risk to local communities, they said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, later on Tuesday said that the case was one of the 10 imported cases reported by the CECC that day.
Case No. 16,859 is a Taiwanese in her 30s, who returned from Cambodia on Nov. 26 and tested negative upon ending quarantine at a hotel in Taipei, but she tested positive after experiencing a sore throat on Monday, he said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, yesterday said that a person who stayed in a hotel room next to the woman also tested positive for COVID-19.
Twelve hotel staff members were ordered to monitor their health, and so far nine of them have tested negative, he said.
Among the 20 people who stayed at the quarantine hotel and were identified for testing, including 11 people who stayed on the same floor as the woman, five people have tested negative so far, while one person tested positive, Lo said.
The individual — case No. 16,870, which was reported yesterday — is a Taiwanese in his 30s, who returned from the US on Dec. 5.
Genome sequencing would be conducted on the two cases’ virus samples to see if they are of the same strain, which could be evidence of cross-contamination in the hotel, he said.
The Taipei City Government has relocated those staying on the same floor as the two cases, and environmental surface testing would be conducted at the hotel, he said.
Seven imported cases and a COVID-19-related death were reported yesterday, Chuang said.
The seven were travelers arriving from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the US, he said.
Chuang said that 53 percent of travelers arriving on Tuesday chose the “7+7 (+7)” Lunar New Year Quarantine Program quarantine option and 15 percent chose the “10+4 (+7)” option.
Penalties have been increased for those who breach quarantine rules during the program, which runs from Tuesday to Feb. 14.
The details were made public on Monday on the online Executive Yuan Gazette and the CDC’s Web site, Chuang said.
Arriving travelers who provide an invalid vaccination record could face a fine of NT$30,000.
Those who reported themselves as fully vaccinated on the online health declaration, but are unable to provide a vaccination record can be fined NT$50,000.
Those who avoid, hinder or refuse to let quarantine officers check their vaccination record, and still refuse to cooperate after being asked to, could face a fine of NT$70,000; if they use inappropriate verbal or physical behavior they face a fine of NT$100,000; and if their verbal remark is considered an insult or threat to the safety of a quarantine official, they face a fine of NT$150,000 and would be reported to the police.
People who present a forged or altered vaccination record can be fined NT$150,000 and would be reported to the police.
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