In late April 2021, multiple areas in regions of Taiwan experienced COVID-19 disease clusters, which subsequently spread across Taiwan. This event was part of the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan.
On May 13, 2021, genomic sequencing revealed that the cluster cases in Luodong Township, Yilan County; Luzhou District, New Taipei City; and Wanhua District, Taipei City shared the same viral lineage as the China Airlines Novotel COVID-19 cluster incident, all belonging to the B.1.1.7 lineage variant of SARS-CoV-2. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) assessed that these clusters might be related, but no direct epidemiological links had yet been identified.
On May 14, 2021, according to case diagrams released by the CECC, a total of 64 confirmed cases were reported (9 cases from the Yilan amusement arcade cluster, 25 cases from the Luzhou Lions Clubs International, 23 cases related to Wanhua , and 7 cases with sources under investigation). As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased rapidly and spread across multiple counties and cities, the CECC announced on 19 May 2021 that On May 26, although the Level 3 alert had originally been scheduled to be lifted on May 28, due to the increasingly severe domestic outbreak and to reduce the risk of cluster infections, the CECC announced for the first time that the alert would be extended until June 14. On June 7, the CECC again announced an extension of the Level 3 alert to June 28 due to the continued severity of the outbreak. On June 23, the CECC extended the nationwide Level 3 alert for a third time to July 12. On July 8, the CECC extended the Level 3 alert for a fourth time to July 26, while also moderately easing some restrictions starting July 13. On July 23, after considering the domestic situation and referencing international epidemic control adjustments, and following consultations with local governments, the CECC announced that the epidemic alert level would be lowered to Level 2 from July 27 to August 9 (subject to adjustment depending on the situation). Subsequently, the Level 2 alert remained in place until December 31, 2021.
On August 13, 2021, the CECC used four charts to conclude that the "3+11" policy constituted a cluster event rather than a breach, and that no link between the Novotel and Wanhua incidents could be confirmed after three months. "After three and a half months of extensive investigation, no evidence linking the cases to the community was found, although fewer connections are preferable. The Novotel hotel cluster ‘should have originated from abroad,’ but the transmission relationships involving housekeeping staff and others remain difficult to clarify; it can only be said that during that period, infections occurred among both employees and residents within Novotel." "Following yesterday’s statement that the ‘3+11’ system was not a breach, public criticism arose. Some netizens questioned, ‘Could it be that a wormhole dropped the virus into Wanhua?’ When asked by the media about this view, Chen Shih-chung stated that at the time the incident had just subsided, it was not possible to assert that there was no connection, especially since some genomic sequences were identical, making it impossible to rule out community links in the short term. However, after more than three months of extensive epidemiological investigation and testing, no connections were found, leading to the conclusion that they were separate events. When further asked whether it could be concluded that the China Airlines Novotel cluster had no direct relation to the domestic outbreak, Chen responded, ‘There is no way to assert that definitively; I can only present the relevant circumstances. At least, there is no evidence indicating a connection.’"
Background In April 2020, Taipei City councilors and media reported that nearly 400 teahouses and tea rooms (colloquially referred to as "") in Wanhua were small in space yet crowded with hostesses and customers, significantly increasing the risk of droplet transmission of COVID-19. The indoor 1.5-meter social distancing guideline was effectively disregarded, and people were not wearing masks, raising concerns that the lack of regulation could become a major breach in epidemic prevention.
In May 2020, citizens also filed complaints with the ，reporting that teahouse private rooms in Wanhua were overcrowded and failed to maintain safe social distancing. If not strictly investigated, they warned, this could create a breach in epidemic prevention. The department merely responded that establishments not complying with preventive measures would be guided to make improvements within a specified period, and the case was considered handled. This response was criticized for ignoring whistleblower warnings and leading to a prevention gap. Furthermore, within a 100-meter radius of the area was , and under the "Taipei City Self-Government Ordinance on the Management of Dance Halls, Cabarets, Bars, and Special Coffee and Tea Rooms," such establishments were not permitted. However, the city government had long failed to actively crack down on businesses whose operations did not match their registered categories.
Although in this cluster case (Case No. 1424), the onset date could be traced back to April 23, 2021 (with the actual infection likely occurring earlier and considered possibly parallel to the China Airlines and Novotel cluster incidents as two separate developments), later, CECC Deputy Chief of the Medical Response Division Lo Yi-chun stated that genomic sequencing showed that 17 cases in the China Airlines Novotel COVID-19 cluster incident shared the same primary UK variant strain, while 11 cases from a New Taipei Lions Club cluster, 5 cases from the Wanhua teahouse cluster, and 1 case from a Yilan amusement venue were all infected with this UK variant. However, on May 11, seven locally transmitted cases appeared, among which Case No. 1203 was identified as the first confirmed case, marking an escalation in the alert status of the Wanhua outbreak.
In May 2021, New Taipei City councilor Yeh Yuan-chih revealed: "Novotel only provided Building 2 for quarantine guests, but half a year ago, due to insufficient rooms, it secretly opened Building 1 to quarantine guests, creating a breach in epidemic prevention! The hotel has not responded!" In response, CECC Commander Chen Shih-chung stated: "Quarantine hotels can be used together with regular hotel operations, but they must be separated by floors and have independent elevators; failure to implement this will result in penalties according to regulations!" He also stated, "They should have reported the situation to us at that time; we will further inquire about it." Yeh responded, "I think it’s strange for Chen Shih-chung to blame employees; whose responsibility is this? It should be Chen Shih-chung’s responsibility, so there’s no need to shift blame." In response to the allegation, Taoyuan City Tourism Bureau Director Yang Sheng-ping stated that no such complaint had been received.
On May 8, the Taoyuan City Department of Health fined the Novotel Hotel NT$1,266,000 for violations, as it had not applied to operate as a quarantine hotel but had designated some floors for airline crew quarantine accommodation, and had allowed mixed occupancy with general guests on the same floor.
On May 13, CECC Commander Chen Shih-chung stated that the cause of the outbreak was due to "connections between people," which led to this breach in epidemic prevention.On the same day, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je ordered that 172 teahouses and establishments serving alcohol (commonly known as "grandpa shops" or "qingcha shops") under the jurisdiction of the Wanhua Precinct be closed for three days starting immediately. They could only apply to reopen after disinfection and passing inspections.
On May 17, Chang Shang-chun stated that genomic sequencing analysis indicated that confirmed cases all shared the same viral strain sequence, suggesting a single transmission chain detected at different locations, representing a large community cluster in Taiwan rather than multiple parallel transmission chains. Based on current data, all cases share the same viral sequence, reasonably indicating a single transmission chain detected in different locations; tracing further back shows connections among confirmed individuals, so it cannot be described as three parallel chains.
On May 23, Chen Shih-chung stated that identical genomic sequencing results do not necessarily indicate a connection with the China Airlines incident, and further investigation is required to determine the source.
On June 16, Chen Shih-chung stated that most of this wave of local infections involved the UK variant strain.
On May 21, Control Yuan member Lin Kuo-ming, in light of the outbreak, initiated an automatic investigation into the long-term operation of Wanhua teahouses that engaged in hostess-accompanied drinking services inconsistent with their registered business categories. The competent authorities had failed to actively crack down on these long-term illegal operations, allowing them to become a breach in epidemic prevention (archived page available via the Internet Archive).
On August 13, 2021, the CECC used four charts to conclude that "3+11" was a cluster rather than a breach (as mentioned above), and that no connection between Novotel and Wanhua could be found after three months. The reason for initially suggesting a connection with the Novotel pilot cluster and later stating otherwise was that the Novotel housekeeping manager (Case No. 1120) had already exhibited symptoms such as cough, runny nose, loss of appetite, and shortness of breath starting April 17. Between April 19 and 26, the individual visited clinics multiple times, and as symptoms did not improve, sought hospital care on April 27, was diagnosed with pneumonia, admitted for isolation, tested, and confirmed positive on April 29. During this period, only airline pilots were required to undergo regular screening; other occupations were not included, and quarantine hotel staff (Case No. 1120) were therefore not subject to regular testing. From symptom onset to confirmation, more than 11 days elapsed, during which the individual commuted daily via public transportation between their residence in northern Taiwan and the Taoyuan Novotel Hotel. Therefore, based on available evidence, it cannot be determined whether the housekeeping staff member was infected within Novotel and then transmitted the virus to pilots, or was infected in the community and subsequently brought it into the hotel.
On April 28, 2021, one day before the announcement of Case No. 1120, CECC expert Huang Li-min stated in an interview: "The CECC should not only test pilots but should also adopt expanded testing similar to that used in the Taoyuan General Hospital outbreak, including contractors, cleaning staff, and others with business interactions with China Airlines. Environmental contacts should also undergo serological testing to determine the scale of infection." He further stated, "Preliminary serological results suggest that the virus has been present in Taiwan for a long time and has not disappeared. The Indonesian pilot was only diagnosed after testing in Australia, indicating that this was not the first wave of infection. A large proportion of the China Airlines pilot infections were likely local, with only a minority being imported cases, and there were multiple sources of infection. However, due to the lack of comprehensive serological investigation and gaps in the data, it has been difficult to trace the sources."
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