TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has announced a tightening of mask rules for Taoyuan City and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after a cleaning worker and her three contacts were diagnosed with COVID.

The CECC on Tuesday (Jan. 4) announced that Taiwan's coronavirus case No. 17,230 is a woman in her 40s who works on the cleaning crew at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and that based on preliminary genetic analysis, she is infected with the Omicron variant. According to the CECC, the woman had recently spent an extended period selling goods at a stall in the Zhongzhen Market on Qianlong Street in Taoyuan's Zhongli District.

CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) SAID that three of the woman's contacts, case Nos. 17,238-17,240, had also tested positive for COVID-19. Cases 17,238 and 17,239 are fellow cleaning workers, while case No. 17,240 is a quarantine taxi driver.

Taoyuan rules

Chen said that in response to the cases at the airport and their movements in the community, strengthened epidemic prevention measures are in effect in Taoyuan from Tuesday until Jan. 17, including a requirement that masks be worn at all times outside the home. Chen said that an exception to the rule will be to meet dietary needs, while previous exceptions in which masks could be removed, such as when taking a photo, have been rescinded.

Airport rules

As for epidemic prevention measures at the airport, quarantine drivers must now undergo a throat saliva PCR test every three days. Airport staff must now take a rapid antigen test once a week, and those with symptoms are required to immediately undergo a deep throat saliva test or nasopharyngeal PCR test.