CORONAVIRUS/One new COVID-19 case confirmed in preschool cluster; total at 30

Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) One new COVID-19 case linked to a preschool and apartment complex in New Taipei was reported Monday, bringing the number of infections in the cluster to 30, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The new case reported Monday is a woman in her 50s who lives in Taoyuan with her husband. Her husband had tested positive on Sunday, after one of his coworkers -- the mother of one of the infected preschool students -- was confirmed with COVID-19.

A total of 23 of her contacts are now in quarantine, the CECC said.

The first two cases reported in the cluster -- a preschool teacher and her husband -- were confirmed on Sept. 5.

Prior to Monday, nine students at the preschool, 12 of their relatives, three people who live in the same apartment complex as one of the students, a coworker of one of the relatives, and a construction worker who had worked briefly at the complex and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19.

The preschool and the apartment complex are in Banqiao District, New Taipei.

The patients in the cluster are all in good condition, and some have already been discharged, CECC adviser Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said at a press briefing Monday.

Genome sequencing results show that at least 21 of the patients were infected with the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The genome sequencing could not be conducted on two cases in the cluster -- the father of one of the infected students, who returned from Egypt in early August, and one of the students' neighbors -- because their viral load was too low, CECC official Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said at the briefing.

The source of the cluster is still unclear, according to the CECC.

In addition to the new case linked to the cluster, Taiwan reported one domestic case on Monday -- a woman in her 60s who lives in New Taipei's Banqiao District. Her grandson, a student at a junior high school in Taipei's Songshan District, tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and was confirmed to be infected with the Alpha variant of the coronavirus.

Health authorities are still looking into how the two became infected, the CECC said.

Taiwan also reported three imported cases on Monday, involving two Taiwanese and a Japanese national who recently traveled to Taiwan from the United States and Japan.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed a total of 16,093 COVID-19 cases, of which 14,404 are domestic infections reported since May 15, when the country first recorded more than 100 cases in a single day.

With no new deaths reported Monday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country remained at 839, with all but 12 recorded since May 15, CECC data showed.

Recent cases

Sept. 12: Two new cases confirmed in New Taipei preschool cluster; total at 29

Sept. 11: Majority of COVID cases in preschool cluster are Delta variant: CECC

Sept. 10: No new COVID-19 cases linked to preschool, EVA Air clusters

Sept. 9: Preschool cluster grows to 27 cases, infection source still unknown

Sept. 8: Preschool cluster grows to 23 cases, 10 confirmed with Delta variant