CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan reports 71 new COVID-19 cases, including 27 domestic

01/28/2022 03:33 PM

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Health Minister Chen Shih-chung hosts Friday's COVID-19 press briefing. Photo courtesy of the CECC

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) Taiwan reported 71 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, consisting of 27 domestic and 44 imported cases, with zero deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Of the 27 new domestic cases, nine tested positive for the disease while they were in quarantine as contacts of previously confirmed cases, including four linked to cluster infections in the Port of Kaohsiung, Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung (陳時中) said during the CECC's daily press briefing.

Most of the new locally transmitted cases were linked to known clusters in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Yilan, or isolated cases in a New Taipei hospital, Chen said.

However, there are three cases, including two Taoyuan residents in Bade District who went to COVID-19 testing sites in the city and returned a positive result, and an Indian national, who took a test for a trip abroad that came back positive, Chen said.

The sources of those infections are still being investigated, according to the CECC.

Twelve of Friday's 27 new domestic cases are classified as breakthrough infections, while seven are children under 10 years of age, who are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Taiwan. Two received a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, one is unvaccinated, and the vaccination status in the remaining five cases has yet to be determined, the CECC said.

The figures do not include four cases reclassified as domestic in early January, nor retroactively removed cases. The number of imported and locally transmitted infections recorded in 2022 totaled 1,186 and 419, respectively, as of Jan. 28.

In addition to the domestic cases, Taiwan also reported 44 imported cases on Friday, 14 of which were passengers who tested positive upon arrival in Taiwan on Thursday. The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 18,634 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,019 domestically transmitted infections.

With no deaths reported on Friday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the country remained at 851. The most recent fatality linked to the disease was reported on Jan. 13.

(By Kay Liu)

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