Taiwan reported 48 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, consisting of 15 domestic and 33 imported cases, with zero deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Of the 15 new domestic cases, 13 tested positive for the disease after they were listed as contacts of previously confirmed cases, Health Minister Chen Shih-Chung (???) said during the CECC’s press briefing.

These 13 cases were linked to known clusters in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Yilan County, Chen said.

In addition, there was another case whose test results just came back before the press event began, therefore details of the case won’t be available until Sunday, he added.

This latest case involves a woman, whose boyfriend was one of the cases reported from Taoyuan on Thursday, according to Chen.

The other two domestic cases involved a woman in her 40s, who tested positive when she went to see a doctor on Friday, and one of her family members, a man in his 50s, who also tested positive following her test results, Chen said.

The sources of the two infections are still being investigated, according to the CECC.

Nine of Saturday’s 15 new domestic cases are classified as breakthrough infections, while one is a child under 10 years of age, who is not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Taiwan, according to the CECC.

One received two doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, and one has been given two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but both of them only had their second dose within the past 14 days, so they were not classified as fully vaccinated.

There are also two unvaccinated patients, while the vaccination status in one case has yet to be determined, the CECC said.

In addition to the domestic cases, Taiwan also reported 33 imported cases on Saturday, nine of which were passengers who tested positive upon arrival in Taiwan on Friday. The CECC did not release any information regarding the vaccination status of the imported cases.

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 18,681 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 15,034 domestically transmitted infections.

With no deaths reported on Saturday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the country remained at 851. The most recent fatality linked to the disease was reported on Jan. 13.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel