Taoyuan, Jan. 25 (CNA) Extracurricular winter sessions at all schools in Taoyuan have been canceled with immediate effect, as the city battles a community cluster of COVID-19 cases that has now reached 15, Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan said Monday.
School facilities will not be available for winter camps or any other activities such as volunteer group or student club meetings, Cheng said, after the city on Sunday recorded two more cases in the COVID-19 cluster that started at Taoyuan General Hospital.
Following the end of the fall semester last week, elementary and junior high schools were scheduled to start supplementary winter classes Monday, but late Sunday the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that some 5,000 people would have to go into home quarantine, as part of its control efforts.
The 5,000 people include patients who were discharged from the hospital between Jan. 6 and 19, and their close contacts, the CECC said.
According to city government officials, most of the 5,000 are people in Taoyuan, with an estimated 500 in New Taipei City, over 40 in Taipei, two in Keelung and six in Hualien..
Cheng said Monday that the CECC home quarantine order has been the "biggest challenge" for the city since the outbreak began, given the large number of people required to quarantine.
The Taoyuan Department of Public Health will be responsible for notifying those who must quarantine, while other branches of the city government will assist with the implementation of the order, he said.
A service center also will be set up to offer online medical consultation and other assistance to those in quarantine, Cheng said.
With 15 COVID-19 cases now confirmed in the Taoyuan community cluster, all large scale gatherings that had been scheduled to take place in the city before the end of February have been either canceled or postponed, according to the mayor.
The city's COVID-19 control efforts include disinfection of business districts, major transportation hubs, and other public areas, he said.
Meanwhile, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., smartphone vendor HTC Corp., and several other high tech companies that have factories in Taoyuan are taking steps to prevent further spread of the disease.
Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, said Monday that employees at its Taoyuan factory have been advised to avoid traveling outside the city. The company said it has also suspended its shuttle bus service between its factories islandwide.
In its statement, HTC said employees at its Taoyuan plant who can work from home have been asked to do so, and all of its staff meetings have been moved online, while its shuttle bus service between its headquarters in Xindian, New Taipei, and its factory in Taoyuan has been suspended.
