A logistics service provider for convenience store chain Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) has been ordered to suspend its operations after 15 people linked to the company tested positive for COVID-19, the Taoyuan City Government said yesterday.
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) made the announcement at a morning news conference, in which the city reported seven new COVID-19 cases, including two associated with Re-Yi Distribution Service Co (日翊物流) and five from a family cluster infection.
A total of 1,178 people have been tested to contain the COVID-19 outbreak at the logistics firm, the city government said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
As of yesterday, 12 employees and three of their family members had tested positive, it added.
“We decided to disclose the name and address of the logistics firm, because it works with many other companies and logistics service providers. Employees working at firms that do business with Re-Yi should be tested as well,” Cheng said.
FamilyMart said in a statement that Re-Yi, one of its subsidiaries, has completely suspended its operations after being notified by the Taoyuan Department of Health.
Photo: Hsu Cho-hsun, Taipei Times
The company’s base of operations in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪) would be disinfected immediately and all Re-Yi employees would cooperate with city health officials in contact tracing investigations, the convenience store chain said.
“We will suspend deliveries of some items ordered by our customers. We apologize for the inconvenience that it might cause. We will adjust delivery schedules based on how soon we are allowed to resume operations,” FamilyMart added.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 22 domestic COVID-19 cases — seven in Taoyuan and 15 in Kaohsiung.
They are 11 males and 11 females aged one to 80, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said in a video statement.
Chuang said another domestically transmitted case in Taoyuan was linked to a cluster infection at the Jimmy Bear kindergarten, while the remaining four cases are family members of an imported case from China.
In Kaohsiung, six cases were linked to a cluster that originated at an Yilan County hotel, with the other nine linked to the Port of Kaohsiung, Chuang said.
The CECC also reported 34 imported cases, who arrived from the US, China, Japan, the Philippines, the UK, Australia, Turkey, Thailand, Germany, Spain and Sweden.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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