TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (Jan. 19) announced that among the four latest cases of a hospital coronavirus cluster infection is a Vietnamese caregiver.
On Tuesday (Jan. 19), CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced the four latest cases from a cluster of infections tied to a hospital in northern Taiwan, including Cases 864, 865, 868, and 869. Among these latest domestic infections, Case No. 869 is a female Vietnamese caregiver in her 40s.
On Jan. 12, Health Minister and Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that a doctor and nurse from a "hospital in northern Taiwan" had tested positive for COVID-19. The first case of the cluster was Case No. 838, a physician who had been caring for coronavirus patients at a hospital in Taoyuan.
The progression of the transmissions of the cluster appears to be as follows. On Jan. 3, a Taiwanese man in this 60s, Case No. 812, who had returned from the U.S. after visiting relatives there, tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed in an isolation ward in Taoyuan General Hospital, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
(CECC image)
After treating the patient in the intensive care unit on Floor 7B, the physician tested positive for the coronavirus on Jan. 12. That same day, Case No. 839, a nurse, who works on Floor 6A and is also the doctor's live-in partner, tested positive.
On Jan. 17, Case No. 856, a doctor in his 30s who works on Floors 7B and 10B, also tested positive. Case No. 852, a female nurse in her 20s who on Jan. 10 was in contact with No. 838 for one hour on Floor 7B, tested positive on Jan. 18.
Due to contact with Case No. 856, a nurse, Case No. 863, who works on Floor 10B, was tested and received a positive result on Jan. 18. The next day, Case No. 868, a colleague of Case No. 863 who also works on Floor 10B, was diagnosed.
In addition, two relatives of Case No. 863 (Cases 864 and 865) tested positive for the disease. However, Case No. 869, a Vietnamese caregiver who had been tending to patients on Floor 9B, also tested positive for COVID-19 that day.
The mystery is how she contracted the disease, as she is the first person on Floor 9B to test positive for the virus. The CECC is currently investigating how she was infected.
