Taiwan has seen its first domestically-transmitted COVID-19 case in over eight months. That’s the word from the Central Epidemic Command Center on Tuesday.
The case is a woman in her 30s who is a friend of a New Zealand pilot who tested positive on Sunday. The two had close contact with each other from December 7 to 12. Test results for the woman came back positive Tuesday.
The two went to several public places together, such as Tianmu’s Sogo and Mitsukoshi department stores, from December 8 to 21. Health authorities are urging people who have been to these venues to monitor their own symptoms.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the risk of community spread is not higher because the source of infection is not unclear. Chen said the government will not tighten restrictions nor will it ban New Year’s Eve events.
Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center said Taiwan has seen three new imported cases from the Philippines, bringing the total number of infections to 770.