Revised - Some students at F.H. Collins Secondary School have been advised to go into self-isolation by Yukon Communicable Disease Control. The issue was addressed to parents in a letter sent out by a deputy-minister with the Department of Education.
“We are writing to let you know that some high school-aged students in Whitehorse have been advised by Yukon Communicable Disease Control to self-isolate in an abundance of caution due to a potential exposure to COVID-19 over the Christmas break while outside of school,” says a letter to parents from the department, obtained by the Star.
The letter goes on to state “the Yukon Communicable Disease Control and the Chief Medical Officer of Health have advised us that no high school in Whitehorse is currently considered an exposure site for potential COVID-19 transmission, and that all Yukon schools remain low-risk environments.
A promotional poster of Taiwanese pop band Mayday’s concert. CNA photo Dec. 31, 2020
Taoyuan, Jan. 6 (CNA) Seven people in Taoyuan, who breached COVID-19 protocols by attending a concert by the pop band Mayday on New Year s Eve, have been fined NT$30,000 (US$1,070) to NT$70,000 each, local health authorities said Wednesday.
In a news release, the Taoyuan Department of Public Health said the fines were imposed because the seven people were supposed to observing self-health management, which meant they were not allowed to visit crowded places, but instead they attended a large concert.
By mingling with the large crowds at the concert venue, the delinquents increased the risk of COVID-19 spread or community infection, the department said.
China Airlines flight crew members. CNA file photo Dec. 27, 2020
Taipei, Dec. 28 (CNA) Taiwan is tightening its quarantine rules for long-haul flight crews by lengthening the quarantine period after an EVA Air pilot infected another person earlier this month despite the protocols in place.
Under the new rules, which take effect on Jan. 1, 2021, long-haul flight crews or flight crews that enter another country before returning to Taiwan will have to stay in quarantine for seven days, up from the current three days for pilots and five days for flight attendants.
Also, such individuals will not be allowed to leave their hotel or home unless they test negative for COVID-19 after the seven days of home quarantine, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said Monday.
Public Health is monitoring developments with a new and reportedly more infectious variant of the coronavirus. The mutation was first identified in South Korea and emerged this week in the United King
Boonchai Wedmakawand/Getty Images
A new coronavirus strain has been discovered with 23 mutations.
Seventeen of these could be important affecting the virus behavior but we don t know for sure.
UK officials are concerned about the mutated virus spread and have introduced lockdowns in certain areas. Other countries have imposed travel bans on the UK.
Experts, however, say it s unlikely that the mutations will stop vaccines from working against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
One expert said this was because coronavirus infection or having the vaccine caused numerous immune reactions in the body. Some of the mutations in the new variant could affect some of the sites causing immune responses, but probably not all of them, he added.