The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed two new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 47 in Taiwan.
One of the new cases is a relative of a previous case and the other is a man who tested positive after returning from a business trip to the Netherlands, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The former is a man in his 20s living in northern Taiwan, who is the son of the nation’s 34th case and the brother of the nation’s 41st case, and had tested negative twice after his mother was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Feb. 28, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Photo by Sam Yeh, AFP
The man had a cough from Friday to Sunday while he was under mandatory home isolation, and as the coughing became worse, he was hospitalized and tested positive in his third test, Chuang said.
With the man’s inclusion, the cluster of cases surrounding the nation’s 34th case, including her relatives, hospital nurses and a janitor, as well as other patients in the hospital and their relatives, has risen to eight people.
The other new case is a man in his 30s living in southern Taiwan who visited the Netherlands from Monday to Thursday last week, Chuang said.
On Monday this week, the man developed a mild fever and coughing, sought medical help the same day and tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, Chuang added.
The patient has been hospitalized in a negative pressure isolation ward for treatment and a contact investigation has been launched, Chuang said.
Separately, Chen confirmed that two charter flights, operated by China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) and China Eastern Airlines Corp (中國東方航空), were to bring more than 400 Taiwanese home from Wuhan, China, last night.
The first charter flight, which brought back 247 Taiwanese from Wuhan on Feb. 3, sparked controversy, as the passengers were not selected according to the government’s request that vulnerable people be allowed to leave first, no disease-prevention measures were taken during the flight and a passenger who had a fever upon arrival later tested positive for COVID-19.
The CECC had halted evacuation flights until officials prioritized vulnerable people and took disease-prevention measures.
Chen yesterday said that four doctors and nine nurses would be on board the China Airlines flight, and masks and protective clothing have been prepared for the passengers.
Since the first evacuation flight, capacity at quarantine centers has risen from about 600 people to more than 1,000, space planning has been modified and the nation’s COVID-19 testing capacity has increased from about 300 to 500 people per day to more than 3,000, he said.
Officials from Taiwan and China have acknowledged the risk of virus transmission during flight, Chen said, adding that only people who test negative for COVID-19 would be allowed to board the planes.
The two flights would land at least three hours apart to give quarantine officials sufficient time to screen the passengers for symptoms and take disinfection measures, Chen said.
Evacuees who do not show symptoms would be taken to a quarantine center for 14-day isolation, he added.
The center would publish the details once all the passengers have safely returned home, Chen said.
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