The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is investigating a possible link between two Taiwanese nationals who both tested positive for COVID-19 after staying in adjacent rooms in the same quarantine hotel.
The two cases involve a woman who tested positive Tuesday, two days after leaving quarantine, and a man who tested positive while still in quarantine Wednesday, CECC official Lo Yi-chun (???) said at a press briefing.
Both are currently listed as imported cases, but the CECC is not excluding the possibility one may have infected the other, or that they were infected by someone else at the hotel, Lo said.
Lo said the CECC was working with local health authorities to determine the source of infection and would also conduct genome sequencing, adding that there was a chance the two cases could be reclassified as domestic infections.
In a separate press briefing Wednesday, Taipei Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan (???) said that the quarantine hotel where both of the infected stayed was located in the city's Zhongzheng District.
The woman who tested positive returned to Taiwan from Cambodia on Nov. 26.
After testing negative for COVID-19 upon entry as well as the end of quarantine, the case began to have a sore throat two days after returning home from the quarantine hotel on Monday.
Huang said a test taken by the woman the day after reporting symptoms came back positive.
She added that Taipei City government had immediately started testing close contacts of the woman as her positive test had a CT level of 12, indicating a recent infection.
So far, all four of the woman's relatives who live with her have tested negative, as have nine of the 12 employees at the quarantine hotel.
The tests results of the remaining three employees are still being processed.
Of the 17 guests at the hotel who are staying or stayed on the same floor as the woman, one -- the aforementioned man in the adjacent quarantine hotel room -- has tested positive, while eight have tested negative with results still pending for the remainder, Huang said.
The man who tested positive returned to Taiwan from the United States on Dec. 5 and tested negative for COVID-19 upon entering the country.
He began to have a sore throat the next day, and after consulting with a doctor virtually, he was given medication and his symptoms improved, Huang said.
His CT level is relatively high, and more tests are needed to determine exactly when he contracted the disease, Huang said, adding that the room he is staying in had been adjacent to the woman's for a six-day period in which their stays overlapped.
When asked why the man was not tested for COVID-19 after showing symptoms, Huang said that it was because the case had just been tested the day before.
The man had traveled to Taiwan with 19 other people who all stayed at the same hotel.
They, along with other guests staying on the same floor as the man, have been moved to either a government quarantine center or a different quarantine hotel, Huang said.
Whether the remainder of the hotel guests will be relocated depends on whether the man's travel companions test positive, Huang said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel