Premier Su Tseng-chang has thanked the education ministry and local authorities for moving fast to prevent a potential COVID-19 outbreak in Taoyuan. Su chaired a legislative epidemic prevention conference on Monday, and discussed the recent cluster of cases among EVA Air pilots.
Two EVA Air pilots were listed as imported cases in last Friday's briefing with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). They had recently returned from flights in Chicago and Brisbane. The pilots had been fully vaccinated and were allowed to self-quarantine at home since it had been at least 14 days after their second vaccine dose.
An investigation has shown that at least one of the pilots did not follow proper health procedures, and the son of one of the pilots also tested positive.
Su says that the CECC has sent out messages to over 1,000,000 people, reminding them to check the list of areas visited by confirmed cases. Su acknowledges the scope of the warning is very wide, but says encouraging all potential cases to self-monitor their health now will ultimately keep more people safe.
The CECC also says that it will be increasing safety and disinfection measures at the airports. Many students and teachers have had to go into quarantine, since a pilot's son has also contracted COVID-19. So far 227 people are in quarantine after coming into contact with the pilot's family, and 2,656 have been tested, all coming back negative.
The CECC says that although the case count has been low recently, it recommends maintaining a Level 2 alert until at least September 20. It says it will carry a rolling review of regulations.