The Taiwanese air force last week ordered an emergency evacuation and disinfection of an underground command center after six of its officers contracted COVID-19, Apple Daily Taiwan has learned.

The infections prompted military officials to close the high-level command facility built into Taipei’s Chanchu mountain last Wednesday, for the first time in its 71-year history.

All officers at the command center were ordered to receive rapid tests for COVID while a thorough disinfection was carried out, Apple Daily Taiwan learned. Health officials were arranging vaccinations for the officers.

The command center, established in 1950, is responsible for monitoring flight movements over mainland Chinese coastal provinces and for deploying the island’s aircraft in the event of an invasion.

On Monday, Taiwan reported 185 new domestic cases and 15 deaths from COVID. The number of domestic infections on the island on Sunday fell below 200 for the first time since a new wave of the pandemic broke out a month ago.

However, residents were concerned about a shortage of medical equipment, as island authorities struggled to secure enough vaccines for the 23 million population.

Taiwanese actress Jia Yong-jie said on Sunday she would donate 342 units of high-flow nasal cannula, a device to supply oxygen to severe COVID patients, after some hospitals reported shortages. Jia had earlier raised the money for the donation from private companies and entertainers, she said.

President Tsai Ing-wen thanked Jia and said her government had ordered 500 of the devices, of which 200 had arrived in Taiwan.

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