TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday (Dec. 16) reported one new local COVID-19 case.
Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) that afternoon announced 11 imported COVID cases and one new local infection. The command center did not announce any deaths, leaving the COVID death toll at 849.
Local cases
The sole local case reported on Thursday, case No. 16,882, is a woman in her 80s who had been vaccinated with two doses of AstraZeneca. On Dec. 15, she sought medical attention for abdominal pain and was tested for the virus.
On Dec. 16, she was diagnosed with COVID with a Ct value of 39.9. She also tested positive for the N protein antibody, and the CECC considered her infection to have taken place in the past.
Currently, two contacts have been listed in her case and told to enter isolation, while the search for other contacts is still underway. The health department is conducting an epidemiological investigation to clarify the source of infection.
Imported cases
According to Chen, the 11 imported cases reported on Thursday include four males and seven females ranging in age from their teens to their 50s. Between Nov. 21 and Dec. 14, they entered Taiwan from the U.S. (case No. 16,871), Cambodia (case Nos. 16,872, 16,878, and 16,879), the Philippines (case Nos. 16,873 and 16,876), the U.K. (case No. 16,874), Vietnam (case Nos. 16,875 and 16,877), Thailand (case No. 16,880), and Mongolia (case No. 16,881).
COVID case statistics
Since the outbreak began, Taiwan has carried out 4,710,205 COVID tests, with 4,689,895 coming back negative. Of the 16,771 confirmed cases, 2,125 were imported, 14,592 were local, 36 came from the Navy's "Goodwill Fleet," three were from a cargo pilot cluster, and one was unresolved.
A total of 111 people have been removed as confirmed cases, while 14 cases are still under investigation. Up until now, 849 individuals have succumbed to the disease.
Of the 837 deaths from local infections, 412 were in New Taipei; 322 in Taipei; 29 in Keelung; 27 in Taoyuan; 15 in Changhua County; 13 in Hsinchu County; five in Taichung; three in Miaoli County; two each in Yilan and Hualien counties; and one each in Hsinchu City, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, and Taitung County. The 12 other deaths were imported cases.
