Taiwan saw its first fatality from COVID-19 on Sunday. This has led to concerns that Taiwan is moving into a new phase of epidemic prevention.
Health officials tried to alleviate public anxiety by explaining that the case suggests “local transmission,” not a “community spread.”
Taiwan’s first COVID-19 death was a 61-year old taxi driver who had Hepatitis B and diabetes. He had not traveled overseas and did not come in contact with Taiwan’s 18 other confirmed cases. Does that mean the virus has spread in the community? Health Minister Chen Shih-chung explains: “Community spread” means there is continuous spread of the virus within a community. This case is a considered a sporadic one. The people that the man came in contact with, especially medical workers, have all tested negative.”
Vice President Chen Chien-jen said the fatality is an example of local transmission. But four conditions need to be met before the term “community spread” is used to describe the outbreak. This includes a confirmed case with an uncertain source of infection, locally infected cases far outnumber imported cases, a continual spread of the virus and widespread cluster infections.
Officials are still investigating the source infection for Taiwan’s first fatality. But they say the other three conditions have not been met so this case does not indicate a “community spread”.
If “community spread” does occur, schools may need to suspend classes. The director of the CDC’s Infectious Disease Control Medical Network, Chang Shan-chwen, explains. “If there is community spread of a virus, we may treat it like Enterovirus 71. If more than one student in a class has been infected, we would consider suspending classes to keep it from spreading to other students.”
Officials say the patient who succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday is an individual case. They’re encouraging the public to stay calm, and remember that there’s no need for most healthy people to wear a face mask.