TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The mother living with a COVID-19 Omicron BA.5 case might have been the source of the country’s first community spread of the subvariant, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday (July 16).

A woman in her 20s living in north Taiwan who received three vaccine doses and did not travel overseas in at least six months was diagnosed with BA.5. She had initially been confirmed as a COVID-19 case in May but later recovered.

Five close contacts of the woman, including four colleagues and a friend, were subjected to PCR tests which showed negative results, according to CECC Spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥).

However, her mother was seen as the source of her infection, and one of the older woman’s seven contacts showed symptoms of COVID, he said. The PCR test results for the seven were not available as of Saturday, CNA reported.

The parents of the young woman, who both live in the same household, tested positive for COVID on July 3 and July 5 by rapid testing. Their daughter took a rapid and a PCR test on July 6, which showed a positive result. Tests by the CECC found she had been infected by the BA.5 sub-variant.

Health officials have voiced fears the BA.5 subvariant will create a new wave of local COVID infections in August at the earliest, even though single-day numbers have fallen below 30,000.