After three COVID-19 cases were discovered at the Taipower Building on Wednesday, employees immediately underwent mass PCR testing. Employees then put together tables of offerings to the gods, praying for their health and safety.
Taipower spokesperson Zhang Ting-shu says over 2,600 employees took a COVID-19 test on Thursday, and that all came back with negative results. The company says even delivery personnel were tested, and that any employee unavailable to be screened on Thursday would be tested on Friday.
Although over half the company works from home, people are worried about the unknown source of these three cases and whether they’re related to the Delta variant. The Centers for Disease Control says it is committed to tracking the source of the virus.
The first patient from the Taipower Building began experiencing symptoms on July 21 and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on July 23. Almost a month passed between this case and the three discovered on Wednesday, so it is unlikely that they are connected. Two of the new cases are a suspected cluster on the seventh floor, but they are unlikely connected to a third case found on the 21st floor. People worry that the seventh floor cluster may include more employees, since the risk of infection between people working on the same floor is much higher.
Pediatrics director at Taipei Medical University Hospital, Huang Li-min, says that people should remain concerned about the spread of local cases in Taiwan. He says that while Taiwan may not experience another explosion of cases, people should also not expect new cases to disappear any time soon.
Therefore, people must still do their part following pandemic precautions and hygiene guidelines. It’s the only way Taiwan can fully eradicate COVID-19.