The government is closely monitoring a COVID-19 cluster at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital in northern Taiwan as part of ongoing efforts to ensure public health, the Central Epidemic Command Center said Jan. 26.
According to the CECC, a physician assigned to treat a COVID-19 patient at TGH tested positive for the coronavirus Jan. 12, as did his girlfriend, a nurse at the hospital. An additional 13 local infections that can be traced back to the facility have since been identified.
Targeted measures are being implemented to contain the outbreak, the CECC said. These include setting up a command post at the hospital, evacuating and disinfecting potentially contaminated areas, and imposing strict self-health management and safety precautions on local medical staffers.
At the same time, the CECC said all patients discharged from TGH Jan. 6-19, their caretakers and household members, as well as those who have been in contact with the 15 cases identified so far need to undergo home isolation. These individuals must receive a COVID-19 test after completing the 14-day quarantine, it added.
TGH remains in operation but with scaled down services, and the hospital is not accepting new inpatients for the time being, the CECC said. An online platform has also been set up to offer emergency medical consultations around the clock to affected individuals and arrange treatment if necessary.
The CECC urged the public to continue to cooperate with the government’s disease management protocols, adding that it will revisit the existing measures in the future to determine if any adjustments are necessary.
Latest CECC statistics reveal 893 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan and seven deaths, with 83 patients still receiving treatment at hospitals countrywide. (SFC-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw