Taoyuan Airport Cluster Infection Continues to Grow 桃機群聚擴大 累計8例本土含4例Omicron

The Taoyuan International Airport cluster infection now has eight cases, including four Omicron. One domestic expert says the government needs to administer both blood and saliva tests to all airport workers to root out asymptomatic carriers.

The case count of the Taoyuan International Airport cluster infection currently stands at eight, including seven cleaners and one quarantine taxi driver. Four of the eight are Omicron. One epidemiologist says the cluster infection definitely predates the first worker to test positive. The expert says the government needs to perform saliva and serum testing for all airport workers to identify asymptomatic carriers.

Huang Li-min, Honorary Chair, Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan: “If you only do nucleic acid testing, an infected person is infecting everyone they live with. You don't know when these people are then spreading it to others. So, if you identify all carriers, there is a transmission chain that you can't detect.”

Meanwhile, one doctor says Omicron is gradually replacing Delta as the most common variant but is three times more infectious than Delta. Omicron may present with symptoms other than fever or loss of smell or taste, including runny nose, congestion, headache, sore throat or respiratory issues. As it can be difficult to differentiate between an Omicron infection and a common cold, the doctor says people should use self-test kits.

Luo Yuan-chang, Secretary-General, Taiwan Primary Care Association: “I've seen a lot of patients with colds in the last few days, and they all ask me if they have Omicron. I tell them I can't say because the symptoms are very similar.”

The doctor says global research shows that Omicron symptoms are generally mild but the variant can still be fatal to the immunocompromised, and everyone should therefore get vaccinated as soon as possible. The doctor also says it will be at least two weeks before the extent of the cluster infection is known and everyone still needs to remain vigilant.

 

桃園機場群聚感染持續擴大，累計已有8例新冠本土病例，包括7名清潔人員和1名防疫計程車司機，已知有兩人是感染Omicron變異株。有感染科醫師直言，目前確診清潔員絕對都不是第一波感染者，現在應比照諾富特飯店群聚，全機場工作人員都做PCR採檢、抽血驗血清抗體，才知道是誰在傳播。

台灣感染症醫學會名譽理事長黃立民指出:「只驗核酸你不知道這個人被感染，可是這個人同時也傳染給他家裡的人，他家裡的人現在正在傳染你不知道，所以如果你沒有完整的找出所有的感染者，就有一些正在進行的傳染鏈你會偵測不到。」

此外，也有基層醫師擔憂，Omicron已逐漸取代Delta，成為全球主要流行病毒株，它的傳播力比Delta快3倍，症狀包括鼻塞、流鼻水、頭痛、喉嚨痛等呼吸道症狀，也不見得會發燒或嗅味覺異常，其實和一般感冒難以區分，建議有疑慮民眾，應主動使用家用快篩。

中華民國基層醫療協會秘書長羅源彰表示:「我最近這一兩天，很多病人來看感冒完之後，他們都會加一句，醫師我這個是Omicron嗎？我跟他說我不知道，因為很難辨別，症狀幾乎都一樣。」

醫師強調，雖然國外研究顯示Omicron感染後大多為輕症，但少部分免疫低下族群，染疫後仍有重症及死亡的風險，因此建議民眾儘快打疫苗，以提升保護力，而這波桃機群聚危機，醫師推估至少要觀察兩週，到農曆春節前民眾都不可以掉以輕心。