《TAIPEI TIMES》CECC adds masks; new case confirmed

RATIONING: From Thursday, people can buy three adult masks and five children’s masks every seven days, as domestic production ramps up to meet demand

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

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The Central Epidemic Control Center （CECC） yesterday confirmed a new case of COVID-19 and announced that people would be allowed to buy more masks per week at pharmacies from Thursday.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung （陳時中）, head of the center, said the latest confirmed case — the nation’s 41st — is a woman in her 20s, who is the daughter of the 34th case announced on Friday.

“The woman visited her mother many times and took care of her while she was hospitalized,” he said. “Her first test for COVID-19 was negative, but her second test was positive.”

The 34th case was hospitalized for hypoglycemia on Feb. 14 and was reported as a suspected COVID-19 case on Wednesday last week.

Three nurses and one janitor who work at the hospital where she was treated were also confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19.

Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang （莊人祥） said the daughter visited her mother at the hospital from Feb. 15 to Wednesday last week and did not show any symptoms of the virus, but was hospitalized for COVID-19 testing on Friday.

The hospital has disinfected its emergency room and the room in which the mother stayed from Friday to Sunday, the CECC said.

It said that 231 people who had come into close contact with the cluster of cases would be tested, including 197 people who already tested negative.

Meanwhile, Chen said that as the domestic production of masks has been increasing steadily, the government would make changes to its mask rationing policy, in which people are allowed to buy a limited number of masks at pharmacies by presenting their National Health Insurance card or an Alien Resident Certificate.

“Each adult will be allowed to buy three masks every seven days, and children can buy five masks every seven days, while the rules of buying them remain the same,” he said.

Chen said the supply of adult masks to pharmacies would be increased from 400 masks per day to 600, while the supply of children’s masks would remain the same at 200 masks.

Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua （王美花） said that average production last week reached about 6.6 million masks per day.

Sixty new pieces of mask manufacturing equipment are undergoing performance tuning, and daily production is expected to reach 8.2 million pieces this week and 9.2 million pieces next week once the new machines come online, she said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES