CORONAVIRUS/85 nursing, care facilities in Taiwan report 339 COVID cases

Taipei, June 21 (CNA) COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported at 85 nursing homes or care institutions around Taiwan, involving a total of 339 confirmed infections, including 48 at a nursing home in Taipei's Shilin District, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday.

Among the confirmed cases were 85 health care workers and 253 non-workers, such as residents, while another 157 employees have been placed into quarantine, CECC official Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said.

One additional domestic COVID-19 case was added Monday evening after 47 newly confirmed cases were reported at the Shilin nursing home earlier that day, according to Lo.

The cluster infections at the nursing home include 32 residents and 16 workers, with three of the senior residents who had chronic illnesses dying, Lo said.

He added that all infected people have been evacuated from the facility and have been relocated to hospitals or quarantine hotels to curb the spread of the virus, according to Lo.

Taipei's Department of Health is investigating whether the nursing home attempted to cover up the COVID-19 cluster. It suspects that some residents at the home had fevers from June 8-12, but that the managers did not report the cases nor help their clients get medical attention, Wang Su-chin (王素琴), a specialist at the department, told a press briefing on Monday.