These troops have a long day ahead of them. After a woman who works as a cleaner at Taoyuan airport tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, they were called in to disinfect the whole site.
The woman who tested positive is in her forties and cleans the airport parking lot. On December 28, she took a mandatory test, which came back negative. On December 30 and 31, she worked at a stall in Taoyuan's Zhongzhen Market. On January 2, she started to exhibit symptoms of the virus, and tested positive for COVID-19 the next day.
This was a breakthrough case, as the worker had already received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The woman's positive test also includes a CT value that indicates a high potential for infecting others.
Taoyuan Airport President Jerry Dan says that due to the woman's position and work area, she would not have come in contact with passengers. Despite her limited work area, workers are still sanitizing the whole airport. Mass testing is underway, and authorities have already discovered three more cases.
Dan says that whenever there is a COVID case at the airport, health officials always conduct an immediate and thorough investigation.
With the upcoming Lunar New Year expected to bring floods of Taiwanese returning home, authorities are sparing no effort to prevent a wider outbreak.