Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: lienyuan lee/WikiCommons/CC
THE CENTRAL EPIDEMIC Command Center (CECC) announced 27 domestic cases and two imported cases today. 15 of the new cases from today were found while in quarantine. 17 deaths were also announced. 14 cases were found in Taipei, with 11 cases in New Taipei. One case each was found in Pingtung and Changhua. 80.8% of cases to date have been released from quarantine.
According to the CECC, there have been two consecutive days with less than ten cases with unknown sources of infection, and today is likely to be the third day. The higher number of deaths today may be due to delays reporting deaths over the weekend.
The new case in Pingtung is linked to the Delta variant, having drank tea with one of the cases, and shared a taxi with another case, and was listed as a contact but having previously tested negative. The shift to a positive test took place while still in quarantine, as a result of which risk should be minimal.
Information on the new cases announced today (left), further data released by the CECC (center), and information on the new deaths today (right). Photo credit: Ministry of Health and Welfare/Facebook
946 working around the Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation (TAPMC) and Huannan Market, primarily vendors, have been tested. This found three positive test results, two of which were old cases, but one of which is new. Another round of more systematic testing will take place among TAPMC and Huannan Market workers on July 8th. 276 have been quarantined in connection with Huannan Market, with 291 contacts listed. All cases to date linked to TAPMC and the Huannan Market are of the Alpha variant and the clusters are not linked to the Pingtung cluster.
Registration will be maintained for the markets, which have seen fewer customers due to concerns about the cluster. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung visited the Huannan Market today for an inspection and stated that there was an improvement in measures implemented to conform with CECC standards.
Japan has announced that it will donate 1.13 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Taiwan, scheduled to arrive on the 8th. This brings the vaccines that Japan has donated to Taiwan to 2.37 million, adding to a previous donation of 1.24 million doses in June.
With reports that 620,000 doses of AstraZeneca purchased by Taiwan will arrive on Wednesday, this means that 1.72 million doses of vaccines will arrive in Taiwan in the coming days. Chen Shih-chung thanked Japan for its vaccine donation today, commenting that the 2.37 million vaccines donated by Japan to date can cover over 10% of Taiwan’s population with one dose of vaccine. It is anticipated that vaccines will begin to be used around July 15th.
Hundreds of thousands rushed to register on Audrey Tang’s vaccination registration system after details of the new system were announced at a press conference this morning. 460,000 were registered within three hours after the press conference. 830,780 have registered for the system, despite it not being fully opened. The vaccine system will allow individuals to choose which brand they wish to be vaccinated with and accepts ID number or ARC number. Not all of those that registered are eligible for vaccinations, but they will receive a notification from 1922 about their eligibility, because the system will confirm registration information with existing databases.
However, the new system is currently still under trial and will begin to first be rolled out in Penghu, Mazu, and Kinmen. Vaccine registration is based on place of residence and not household registration, but vaccinations through the system are only taking place through Penghu, Mazu, and Kinmen.
Category nine of individuals aged 18 to 64 with underlying conditions and category ten of individuals aged 50 to 64 are to be opened up soon through the system, with plans to open categories based on their willingness to be vaccinated. 61,000 individuals in category nine have registered and 773,000 individuals in category ten have registered. Vaccinations for categories one to eight can also take place through the system.
Chen Shih-chung stated that there is some possibility of error due to the size of category ten, but that this is unlikely. If people choose a vaccine brand not in supply, they may experience delays in vaccination, and the CECC hopes for the public to broadly adopt this platform for vaccination appointments.
The CECC is still evaluating the COVID-19 situation to make a decision as to whether to lift the level three alert on July 12th, but it is moving in the direction of relaxing the alert while maintaining some measures meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The situation must be under control for measures to be relaxed.
The CECC has reiterated that individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 should not be considered to be still contagious. To this extent, the CECC emphasized testing should primarily be publicly paid, and that it will address cases in which this is not being carried out.
Likewise, the CECC is still researching the possibility of mixing vaccines, based on domestic and international cases, and went over procedures for cases that cannot be saved. The CECC is working on a digital proof of vaccination for individuals who have been vaccinated, which may take the form of a QR code but can also be printed.
The Huannan Market reopened today. Although plans were originally to close the market for a week, DPP legislator Hsu Shu-hua has posted LINE photographs indicating deputy mayor Huang Shan-shan pushed for the shortening of the closure to three days. Lin Sheng-dong, the head of the Huannan Market who made the news after criticizing legislator Freddy Lim of doing little for his home constituency of Wanhua, has also been accused by Hsu of having lobbied Huang to shorten the closure of the market, something he has denied.
News media increasingly reports on Taiwanese traveling to Guam to be vaccinated. Reportedly, this costs 100,000 NT, in addition to costs for quarantine facilities after returning. The first group of 164 traveling under vaccination travel plans allowed for by the government of Guam departed from Taiwan today.
Information on new measures at the Second Fruit and Vegetable Market, as well as testing at the First Fruit and Vegetable Market, Second Fruit and Vegetable Market, and Huannan Market. Photo credit: Ministry of Health and Welfare/Facebook
A man who originally planned to quarantine at a quarantine hotel in Taichung, but didn’t have the money to pay, was transferred to a lower-cost quarantine facility. However, this led to confusion because it appeared he had disappeared and gone missing. The CECC has stated that it makes efforts to track down missing COVID-19 cases and that to avoid such situations, it hopes to arrange for quarantine facilities before entry.
Given the closure of night markets and restaurants being ordered to shift to take out, this has had a severe effect on business. Some restaurants in Taichung have reported a decline to 15% of normal business.
430 residents of a public housing block in Nanjichang, located in Zhongzheng District on the border of Wanhua, will be sent for testing under the auspices of a new plan by the Taipei city government to test public housing blocks by sending their residents to Taipei’s seven major hospitals. So far 160 have been sent for testing, as of this morning. There are 714 households and over 2,000 residents of this housing block, with sixteen cases of COVID-19 found in the housing block between May 18th and July 1st. Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je called on the media not to photograph the often elderly individuals going to be tested, which may discourage them from being tested.
Current plans by the Taipei city government only call for setting up a testing station for places with over 1,000 individuals that require testing. Applications can be filed to set up neighborhood test sites when needed.
Foreigners in Taipei can use the Taipei Medical University’s English-language website to register for vaccination, or 1922, which has a website in English and Japanese. Vaccinations for foreigners are to take place at the Taipei Municipal Xinyi Junior High School. Ko stated that measures are considered for vaccinating migrant workers without identification, but did not state concretely what they were.
A drug to treat COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome developed by Foresee Pharmaceuticals Company has been approved for phase two trials in the US. Trials may be carried out in India, Central America, and South America as well. Phase three trials may take place after analysis of phase two trials.
New Taipei mayor Hou You-yi called on the central government to open up vaccinations to family members of medical workers today, claiming that this is needed to reassure medical workers at the frontlines that their families are safe. The CECC stated that it does not have plans to vaccinate families of medical workers because medical workers are mostly vaccinated, putting their family members less at risk. It is to be seen if other mayors begin to criticize the CECC’s vaccination plans with similar arguments. Hou also called on the public not to relax level three measures before July 12th and on the central government to speed up measures to purchase vaccines.
Tainan mayor Huang Wei-che criticized Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je after comments by Ko accusing individuals vaccinated to maintain the stable operations of the nation as a form of vaccine privilege. Huang lashed out at Ko for such comments when Taipei has had the “privilege” to receive the most vaccines, as the source of the outbreak.
Ko Wen-je claimed that the verdict was still out on Audrey Tang’s vaccination registration system today, raising the view that it could be trialed with migrant workers first. The Taipei city government also reacted against criticisms by Freddy Lim that Wanhua had received the lowest number of vaccines despite being the center of the outbreak, claiming that it did not know where Lim had gotten these statistics, and that Wanhua had the most vaccinations. According to the city government, even if few of those vaccinated in Wanhua may be residents of Wanhua, they may work in Wanhua. Lim’s statistics were taken from a city government website.
A report in the Apple Daily suggests that the earliest that BioNTech vaccines purchased by TSMC and FoxConn through Shanghai Fosun will arrive in Taiwan by September at the earliest. This should not surprise, given global delays in vaccine shipment, though the pan-Blue camp may have played up vaccine purchases by non-government groups as providing a quick fix for Taiwan’s COVID-19 woes. China has taken use of the occasion to remind that Shanghai Fosun is the sole authorized distributor for BioNTech in the greater China region and that it views Taiwan as part of China, something that has led to criticisms from Premier Su Tseng-chang for politicizing the issue. When asked about this today, Chen Shih-chung stated that the CECC will respect Fosun’s rights as a company.
Reports indicate that China may be pushing Taiwanese groups to purchase BioNTech vaccines through Fosun. Through this, China hopes to generate the perception that all vaccines sent to Taiwan after the summer are from China.
The government plans to delay the time between Moderna vaccines, given current supply shortages and because of data showing that vaccination is more effective with delays between the first and second doses of Moderna.
Infographic on the process to use the new vaccination registration system. Photo credit: Ministry of Health and Welfare/Facebook
There were 798 adverse reactions to vaccines today, with 760 reactions to AstraZeneca, and 38 to Moderna. Eight deaths after AstraZeneca vaccination and two deaths after Moderna vaccination were reported today. Eight of these cases were above 75, three were on dialysis, and seven had underlying conditions.
There have been 70 autopsies of deaths that took place after vaccination to date, 51 deaths were due to underlying conditions, while the rest had other causes. There has been no link demonstrated between vaccination and deaths.
When asked about current vaccines proving less effective against the Delta variant of COVID-19, Chen Shih-chung stated that vaccines still prevent serious illness and lower the odds of COVID-19 spreading. Consequently, it is not that vaccines are ineffective against Delta. Vaccination can allow for a quicker return to conditions more similar to normal life.