Cluster Infection Spreads from Chiayi to Taipei 嘉義婚宴案群聚擴大 專家:避握手等接觸行為

The wedding banquet cluster infection has spread from Chiayi to Taipei, with six cases confirmed. One expert says people should not shake hands or embrace at wedding banquets due to risk of infection.

Chiayi City's Nice Prince Hotel is at the center of Taiwan's latest COVID-19 cluster. So far, six people have tested positive, including one as far away as Taipei. One expert says restaurants and banquet halls are common sites for cluster infections due to the enclosed space, people taking off their masks to eat, chatting while eating, toasting, and shaking hands. He also says you don't have to eat at the same table as an infected person to get infected.

Lee Ping-ing, Board Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan: “There is lots of handshaking and other forms of contact at wedding banquets. The chances of coming into contact with a contaminated hand or body (is higher), so everyone should be careful when dining at restaurants.”

The Central Epidemic Command Center says the cluster originated with a pet store employee. Twelve Taipei hospitals and clinics began administering BNT vaccines to children on the 21st. The batch of vaccines expires on the 23rd, and officials hope all the vaccines can be used up.

Tsai Ping-kun, Taipei City Deputy Mayor: “We have enough for these three days. We hope we can use up the supply. There won't be any more vaccines available (for people under 18) after March 23.”

With the imported daily case count exceeding 100 now, many are worried that the government will decide to extend the length of quarantine again. Chen Shih-chung says this isn't necessarily the case.

Chen Shih-chung, Central Epidemic Command Center Chief: “These (imported) cases are not putting any real pressure on our borders. We won't be changing the length of our quarantine just because of these numbers, but we'll keep monitoring the situation.”

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je and his wife Chen Pei-chi have both recently commented that if the government had gotten BNT vaccines sooner, not as many people would have had to die. Asked about his comments, Chen Shih-chung said hindsight is 20-20.

嘉義耐斯飯店婚宴群聚持續擴大，而且疫情還延燒到台北，目前累計已有6人確診，有專家表示，餐廳及婚宴場合很容易有群聚感染，因為在密閉空間裡，賓客除了會脫口罩、邊吃邊交談，還可能逐桌敬酒及握手，就連不同桌吃飯也可能染疫。

台灣兒童感染症醫學會常務理事李秉穎指出：「婚宴那種場合，很多親友可能會握手啊，可能會有一些其它接觸到，受汙染的手啊，或者受汙染的物體的機會，所以在餐廳用餐的時候特別要注意。」

疫情指揮中心表示，目前指標個案仍是一位寵物店職員，疫調持續進行中；而台北市12家醫療院所，從21日起到23日，開設青少年BNT特別門診，因為約有1.3萬劑的BNT疫苗，即將在23日到期，希望能如期打完。

台北市副市長蔡炳坤說：「可以打的，儘量在3天把它打完，這3天量還可以，可是如果過了3月23日，（青少年）就沒有疫苗可以打了。」

此外，近期境外移入確診個案數破百例，外界擔憂，是否影響下個月邊境解封，指揮官陳時中表示，還要再觀察。

中央流行疫情指揮中心指揮官陳時中表示：「以這樣子進來的一個（境外移入），在我們邊境上面，事實上還沒有形成壓力，不會因為這樣的數目，而對我們檢疫的天數有所改變，那當然持續還要觀察。」

至於台北市長柯文哲及其妻子陳佩琪，連日針對疫情發表言論，指出當年東洋購買BNT若沒有破局，讓民眾早打一點打疫苗，可能不致於死那麼多人，媒體詢問，會不會認為是馬後炮，對此陳時中笑著回答，事後見解比較多。