A senior Taiwanese health official on Sunday urged residents to remain vigilant against COVID-19 despite the number of new domestic infections falling below 200 for the first time in a month.

The self-ruled island reported 174 domestic cases on Sunday.

Central Epidemic Command Center head Chen Shih-chung said he was pleased to see the drop in new infections but stressed that Taiwan needed to remain vigilant.

The self-ruled island had seen more than 200 locally acquired cases a day since May 15, with infections peaking at more than 700 on May 22. Before the current wave, Taiwan had won international plaudits keeping a tight lid on the virus, with the vast majority of days seeing single-digit or no new cases.

On Sunday, the island reported an imported case involving a man in his 20s who had returned from the United States. The man had a certificate showing a negative result for COVID obtained three days before boarding his flight.

His case came after Taiwanese health officials on Saturday stepped up quarantine measures for flight crew members.

Under the new measure, crew members who had not been vaccinated would now be quarantined for five days at home and be required to record their temperature and other health conditions for a further nine days. The quarantine period would be extended to seven days from July, Apple Daily Taiwan has learnt.

Those who had received a first shot would be quarantined for three days and record their health conditions for 11 more days. Only people who had completed both shots of vaccine would be exempt from quarantine. But they would still have to monitor their health conditions for seven days, according to Apple Daily Taiwan,

Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen dismissed a report that she had secretly received the German-made BioNTech vaccine. Responding to the claim by a veteran television presenter, the presidential office said it was just a rumor.

Tsai and her deputy William Lai had not yet received any vaccine, the office said. Tsai earlier said she would take a vaccine developed by Taiwanese manufacturers to support the island’s homegrown products.

Some senior officers in local authorities have jumped the line to receive vaccines amid a shortage.

The latest case involved the head of the Hsinchu Armed Force Hospital who helped his close affiliates to get vaccinated, Apple Daily reported earlier. The hospital head has now been removed from office while the hospital was fined NT$2 million (US$72,000) by the city government.

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