《TAIPEI TIMES》 CECC reports seven local cases, with three tied to cluster

/ Staff writer, with CNA

The Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） yesterday reported seven locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, three of whom were linked to a family cluster in Taipei and New Taipei City.

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One of the family members, a man in his 40s who lives in New Taipei City, developed a sore throat and fever on Wednesday, and tested positive for COVID-19 in a self-administered rapid test, Centers for Disease Control （CDC） Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang （莊人祥）, the CECC’s spokesman, told a news conference.

The man immediately sought another test at a hospital, with the result coming back positive yesterday with a cycle threshold value of 14.4, which indicates a high viral load, Chuang said.

The source of the man’s infection remains unknown, he said, adding that two of the man’s relatives, who live in Taipei, also tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday.

They are among 107 people identified as contacts, of whom 94 have so far tested negative for the disease, Chuang said.

The four other local cases are two women and two men in Tainan whose infections are linked to a tour group cluster that began with a Kaohsiung buffet restaurant employee, who tested positive for the disease last month, the CECC said.

Several of the employee’s family members, including her parents, have tested positive, and the cluster has since spread to a hospital in Tainan, prompting it to suspend outpatient services until tomorrow, after two employees at the hospital tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

They are a pharmacist and a pharmacy assistant, and genome sequencing showed that both cases are linked to the tour group cluster, which now totals 24 cases, said CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo （羅一鈞）, who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.

The CECC also reported 75 imported cases, including 45 travelers who tested positive upon arrival. The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 21,163 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,482 domestically transmitted infections.

With no deaths reported yesterday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remains at 853.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES