TAIPEI - The number of people registering for Covid-19 vaccination rocketed in Taiwan after a string of China Airlines crew members and airport quarantine hotel employees were diagnosed with the coronavirus infection in the past week.
As at Tuesday (May 4), the cases linked to the crew of Taiwan s flag carrier and a Novotel near the Taoyuan International Airport reached 28, the two newest additions being a pilot and a flight attendant.
One of the pilots had received the first vaccine dose nine days before he was diagnosed with Covid-19, the Central Epidemic Command Centre said on Wednesday.
An earlier cluster was also in Taoyuan county, where the island s major international airport is located. It had happened in two hospitals, involving patients, medical staff and their families, with 21 confirmed cases and two deaths.
Airline staff, families must be vaccinated: lawmakers
QUARANTINE BLUNDER: The government should be responsible for a cluster infection at a hotel, as the cases have caused panic, DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen said
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications should make it mandatory for pilots and flight attendants, as well as their family members, to be vaccinated in view of a cluster of COVID-19 cases at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, lawmakers said at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
The cluster infection at the hotel had led to 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, including hotel workers, as well as China Airlines flight and cabin crew, and their family members.
Employees can ask for unpaid COVID-19 vaccination leave, from the day of their shot until the end of the next day, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday, adding that the policy takes effect immediately.
“The policy of unpaid COVID-19 vaccination leave will be implemented starting on May 5, and all workers and civil servants will be eligible,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news conference.
Leave can be taken on the day of vaccination and if recipients feel discomfort after getting the shot, they can extend the leave to all of the
CECC offers bonus for referrals that find infections
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
An additional bonus is to be offered to primary healthcare facilities if they refer a patient to a designated COVID-19 hospital for testing and the result comes back positive, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
As several locally transmitted COVID-19 cases associated with staff at an airline and hotel have been reported, and as most of them experienced common symptoms, including a fever or respiratory problems, a reward mechanism has been launched to encourage more proactive testing, the CECC said.
As of yesterday, 28 confirmed cases, including 14 local infections, linked to Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport and China Airlines had been reported since the middle of last month.
Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung. Photo courtesy of the CECC
Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Some of the recently confirmed COVID-19 cases at the Taiwanese carrier China Airlines (CAL) and an airport hotel in Taoyuan are connected, but the source of the cluster infection remains unclear, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.
The CECC made the link after carrying out genome sequencing of the viruses in cases connected to Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Hotel and CAL, one of Taiwan s major airlines, said CECC official Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞).
Over the past two weeks, 11 CAL cargo pilots, a flight attendant, and relatives of the pilots have tested positive for COVID-19.