First domestic case since April reported
DISEASE PREVENTION: While regulations for holding major events will not be changed, the CECC reminded local governments to have emergency response plans
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first domestic case of COVID-19 since April, ending 253 consecutive days of no local transmission.
It also announced three imported cases from the Philippines.
The new local case No. 771 is a close contact of case No. 765, a New Zealander in his 60s, who is an EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) pilot, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
UK travelers to undergo centralized quarantine
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Starting at 12am today, all travelers from the UK, or those who have visited the UK within 14 days prior to arriving in Taiwan, would be placed in centralized quarantine upon arrival, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday.
The UK has reported a new variant of COVID-19, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The variant was first detected in September, and since November has rapidly spread in the UK, even becoming the dominant strain in some areas, Chen added.
People queue outside the Waitrose and Partners supermarket in London, England, yesterday.
Quanta steps up COVID-19 prevention measures
By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter
Contract laptop maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) is stepping up COVID-19 prevention measures after an employee at one of its subsidiaries contracted the novel coronavirus in the first case of community transmission in Taiwan in 253 days.
The woman was infected by case No. 765, an EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) pilot from New Zealand.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are going back to stricter prevention measures like we had at the start of the year,” Quanta spokesman Elton Yang (楊俊烈) said yesterday.
A man walks past a Quanta logo outside the company’s factory in Taoyuan on Sept. 21, 2011.
VIRUS OUTBREAK: Government still mulling UK travel ban
AIRLINE CREW: The government is considering revisions to disease-prevention rules after several incidents of pilots and flight attendants breaching health regulations
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The government is considering whether to ban flights from the UK as other countries have done to stem the spread of a new strain of COVID-19 that is reportedly more infectious, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday, adding that the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) would make the final decision on the matter.
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy and the Netherlands, are among the countries and areas that have placed travel curbs on the UK.