Taipei City Hospital's Heping Branch suspended its outpatient services on May 20 after three medical personnel tested positive for COVID-19. However, the hospital says an investigation showed they likely got infected outside of the hospital.
Taipei City Hospital's Heping Branch previously treated COVID-19 Case No. 1272 and No. 1273. These two cases had frequented hostess teahouses in Taipei's Wanhua District. The hospital then tested all personnel, and three tested positive. However, an investigation showed that the source of infection was likely related to their activities outside of work. The hospital also conducted second tests of patients on May 18, and one patient in the B6 ward and one in the B7 ward tested positive after testing negative in the first test. The rest of the patients tested negative in the second test. So far, no transmission chain has been found within the hospital, but the hospital suspended outpatient services on May 20 as a precaution.
Meanwhile, Taipei Medical University Hospital issued a statement about four registered nurses who previously tested positive. It said there was a nurse who had met with a friend, and then found out the friend's family member was infected. The nurse reported this situation and took a test, which came back positive. Other nurses were then tested, and there were four nurses working in different wards and operating rooms who tested positive. The hospital believes they weren't infected inside the hospital. There were 72 colleagues and patients who had contact with these four nurses. They have been tested and are under quarantine. The hospital has also expanded testing of personnel who work in the same units as the confirmed cases. All the results that have come back so far are negative. The hospital has stopped admitting patients, and all non-emergency or non-essential surgeries have been cancelled. It has also postponed the outpatient medical treatment of patients with non-emergency conditions.