TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A preschool in Taipei has suspended classes for two days when a parent tested positive for COVID after taking their child to school.
Case No. 17,181, a Taiwanese man in his 30s, recently stayed at a Taipei epidemic prevention hotel where a Delta variant cluster infection is suspected to have occurred. Before being diagnosed with COVID, the man had taken his child to a preschool in the city, prompting authorities to suspend classes for two days and test 165 students and 22 teachers.
During a press conference on Sunday (Jan. 2), Taipei Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) said that case No. 17,181 is believed to be tied to a suspected hotel cluster infection and had taken his child to school before being diagnosed. Huang said that disinfection has already been carried out and the school will suspend classes on Jan. 3 and 4 as officials await the results of COVID tests on students and teachers.
Taipei Department of Education Chief Secretary Chen Su-hui (陳素慧) said that case No. 17,181 had only dropped off and picked up his child in front of the school's main entrance and did not enter the school. A total of 165 students and 22 faculty members at the facility must be tested, with the latter all fully vaccinated.
Six direct contacts of the case have been listed thus far, including his father, mother, wife, and three children. After being disinfected twice, the neighboring elementary school is scheduled to hold classes as usual this week, but teachers, students, and parents are encouraged to undergo testing if there are any concerns about contracting the virus.
Huang said that other than the school, case No. 17,181 had only visited a convenience store and a breakfast shop, both of which have been disinfected. According to Huang, after the case had returned from China, where he had been working, he had mainly stayed at home during the self-health monitoring phase.
CECC Head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) during a press briefing that afternoon said that the center "highly suspects" that a cluster infection has occurred in the hotel where case No. 17,181 was staying. According to Chen, preliminary genetic sequencing shows that the cases tied to the hotel have been infected with the Delta variant.
