A growing cluster of COVID-19 cases that started at a religious gathering in Taipei has become an issue of major concern, as all but one of the 16 new domestic cases recorded Friday were linked to the group, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
The first case in the cluster was confirmed on Feb. 13 — a New Taipei man who had contracted the Omicron variant of the coronavirus — and since then the number has grown to 30, including 15 reported on Friday, Health and Welfare Minister and CECC chief Chen Shih-chung (???) said at a press briefing.
The growing cluster
The man’s roommate and three other contacts are among those who have recently tested positive for COVID-19, Chen said, adding that one of them had been part of the religious gathering in Taipei on Feb. 13.
On Thursday, eight people who had also joined the gathering were confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, while 15 of the 16 new domestic cases reported Friday were linked to the cluster, Chen said, listing seven in New Taipei, five in Taipei, two in Kaohsiung and one in Tainan.
The CECC sees the cluster as a matter of major concern, given that the people who attended the Feb. 13 gathering came from all across Taiwan, Chen said. Local authorities are working rapidly on contact tracing in an effort to contain the spread of the disease, he said.
Case linked to Kaohsiung
Meanwhile, the one other new domestic case reported Friday was the child of a Tainan resident who had tested positive on Wednesday after he visited a friend in Kaohsiung, according to the CECC.
The friend is the relative of an employee at the Dalin Refinery Plant in Kaohsiung, which has been the site of another domestic cluster of nine cases that is now under control, as some 3,000 contacts have tested negative, Chen said.
Two of the employee’s relatives, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 14, were confirmed to be infected with the Omicron BA.2 virus, a sub-variant behind a cluster linked to the Port of Kaohsiung, he said.
At a separate press briefing, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (???) said that two new COVID-19 cases were reported in the city Thursday, but they were part of the religious gathering cluster.
One of the patients is an employee at a Yageo Corp. factory in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District, and 180 of his 392 identified contacts have tested negative so far, the mayor said.
In Tainan, the city government said 71 people have been listed as contacts of a woman who is part of the religious gathering cluster, while 41 have been identified as contacts of her child, who tested positive after being placed in quarantine.
Thirteen of Friday’s new domestic cases were classified as breakthrough infections, while three were unvaccinated people, including a boy under the age of 10, who is not eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Taiwan, the CECC said.
Imported cases
In addition to the domestic cases, Taiwan also reported 51 imported cases on Friday, 16 of which were among passengers arriving that day at the airport, while the others were people who entered Taiwan as far back as Jan. 23, the CECC said. It did not disclose the vaccination status of the imported cases.
At the CECC press briefing, Health Minister Chen said genome sequencing in the case of an aviation policeman at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport showed that he was infected with the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, but it was genetically different from the Omicron variants behind the recent outbreaks in Taoyuan and Kaohsiung.
The policeman’s infection was confirmed on Feb. 15, and his live-in granddaughter and daughter in Taipei have since tested positive, as well.
Update on Omicron in Taiwan
In the seven-day period ending Thursday, Taiwan recorded 63 imported and 54 locally transmitted Omicron variant infections, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (???) said during his weekly update at the CECC press briefing.
As of Thursday, Taiwan had recorded a total of 802 Omicron variant infections — 300 domestic and 502 imported cases, according Lo.
Of the 502 imported Omicron cases, only three had developed serious complications, while 277 were asymptomatic, and 222 had mild symptoms, he said, adding that 306 of them had tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Taiwan, some as far back as last December.
He said that of the 750 domestic COVID-19 cases recorded in Taiwan between Jan. 3 and Feb. 17, two patients had developed serious complications, and one has since recovered, while the other died on Feb. 4.
In 60.1 percent of these 750 domestic cases, the symptoms were mild, Lo said, adding that the others were asymptomatic.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed a total of 19,864 COVID-19 cases, including 15,369 domestically transmitted infections.
With no deaths reported on Friday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remained at 852.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel