Four more COVID-19 cases identified in Taiwan hospital cluster

A COVID-19 cluster at a hospital in Taiwan has risen to nine cases as of Tuesday, according to the local epidemic monitoring agency.

Four locals tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, all related to a hospital in Taoyuan in northern Taiwan, the agency said at a press briefing.

A doctor at the hospital who had taken care of a COVID-19 patient was diagnosed with the disease on January 12. He was the first patient identified in the cluster, and his girlfriend, a nurse at the same hospital, tested positive on the same day. Another doctor and two further nurses were later diagnosed with the virus.

Among the latest four cases, two were relatives of a nurse who had previously tested positive, one was a nurse and one was a care worker at the same hospital, the agency said.

The hospital has started to evacuate all patients and will sanitize all its buildings.

The island also reported two imported COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, one from the United States and one from Indonesia.

The agency has suggested that all mass gatherings are canceled or postponed if organizers are unable to adopt strict COVID-19 control measures.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan has hit 868 as of Tuesday. Seven have died, 766 have recovered and 95 remain hospitalized, according to the agency.