TAIPEI (TAIWAN) – The first COVID related death has been reported by Taiwan government since May. The island has been trying to contain a small and unusual outbreak of locally transmitted cases.
A woman in her 80s with comorbidities died after being infected with the coronavirus as part of a domestic cluster connected to a hospital, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung.
Taiwan took early and effective steps to control the virus, with the large majority of its 909 confirmed cases in people who caught COVID-19 abroad. The new outbreak has infected 19 people since the start of the month, centring on a hospital in the northern city of Taoyuan.
Chen, reporting four new cases from the hospital cluster, announced the death, bringing to eight the total number of deaths in Taiwan from the pandemic.
The woman lived in the same household as a nurse who worked at the hospital and was infected there, according to a breakdown of the infections provided by Chen.
Authorities have put up measures to control the hospital outbreak, including putting more than 4,000 people in quarantine and cancelling large-scale public events ahead of February’s week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
Taiwan’s case numbers remain low compared to many countries around the world, with 78 people now being treated in hospital. Taiwan has so few cases the government holds news conferences to announce details of each new one.
