Taiwan airport cluster infections climb to 30

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus cross a street in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan 7, 2022. (CHIANG YING-YING / AP)

TAIPEI – Taiwan reported six new locally-transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, along with 26 new imported cases, the island's disease monitoring agency said. 

The local cases were all linked to Taoyuan International Airport, bringing the total number of cluster infections to 30, it added. 

To date, Taiwan has confirmed 17,393 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, of which 14,635 are locally transmitted infections. 

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To cope with the new Omicron variant, the agency has begun providing the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine. About 7.68 million people will be eligible for the third dose by the end of January, it said.