The COVID-19 cluster involving employees of China Airlines and the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel can be traced to three sources, which are all linked to a virus variant imported from the UK, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The CECC has completed genome sequencing of the viruses which have infected 29 people in the cluster, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.
There are three different genetic sequences, meaning there are three different sources of infection connected to the cluster, he said, adding that all three are linked to a virus variant from the UK.
Among them, a China Airlines pilot (case No. 1,153) and a flight attendant (case No. 1,154) who had visited a bar in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) were both infected by the same strain of the UK variant, Lo said.
The center also confirmed that cases No. 1,101 and No. 1,122 were infected by the same virus strain, but the strain is different from the two other sources, Lo said.
The source of their infection is yet to be confirmed, he said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that the Tourism Bureau is to fine Novotel NT$150,000 after the quarantine hotel was found to have accepted bookings of ordinary visitors in contravention of the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例).
The Taoyuan City Government could also fine the hotel NT$15,000 for each breach of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法), Chen said.
China Airlines is to be fined NT$1 million by the Civil Aeronautics Administration for failing to properly implement quarantine measures for its crew, contravening the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) and related regulations, he said.
The CECC yesterday reported five new imported COVID-19 cases — three arrivals from the Philippines, one from India and one from the UK.
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