Taiwan recorded eight new domestic COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, all related to previously reported cluster infections, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
Cases linked to Yilan cluster
Two of the cases are related to a cluster in Yilan County, which originated from a woman in her 50s who returned from the United States on Feb. 10.
The woman tested negative upon entry and on her seventh day of quarantine, and opted to spend the rest of the quarantine period at home, during which she tested positive. Her older sister, who had helped deliver food to her, subsequently tested positive, as did a co-worker of hers.
The two new cases reported Tuesday linked to the cluster are family members who the woman’s sister had visited prior to being confirmed with COVID-19.
Including the woman who returned from the U.S., the cluster now stands at five cases, the CECC said.
Growing Kaohsiung cluster
The other six domestic cases recorded Tuesday are connected to a cluster involving a Kaohsiung family and a tour group, bringing the total number of cases to 17.
According to the CECC, it is highly likely that the cluster is connected to a different cluster infection in northern Taiwan, as a patient in one cluster had visited the home of a patient in the other cluster, though the CECC has not yet been able to identify the original source of the clusters.
Currently, the CECC is monitoring three clusters of unknown origin in Taiwan.
Of the eight new domestic cases Tuesday, six had received two or three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, one had received one dose of AstraZeneca, and one is unvaccinated, according to the CECC.
In addition to the domestic cases, the CECC also reported 45 imported cases on Tuesday, of whom 18 are travelers who tested positive on arrival in Taiwan.
The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 20,922 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,472 domestically transmitted infections.
With no deaths reported Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remained at 853.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel