The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday elevated its travel notice for Italy to a level 2 “alert,” urging travelers to enhance precautionary measures, while also announcing a new confirmed case of COVID-19 in Taiwan.
“The COVID-19 epidemic situation in Italy is concerning, as the number of confirmed cases has been rising rapidly,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. “The center has decided to raise the travel notice to the level 2 ‘alert,’ and we are advising people to practice enhanced precautions when visiting the nation.”
The center said that Italy had reported 229 confirmed cases, including seven deaths, as of Monday and the source of infection in many cases remains unresolved.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Outbreaks have been reported in hospitals, the Lombardy region has banned public events and Venice has canceled its carnival, Chen said.
Taiwan’s latest confirmed case of COVID-19 is an 11-year-old grandson of the nation’s 27th case — a man in his 80s living in northern Taiwan who was confirmed to have the virus on Sunday, Chen said.
The 27th case’s eldest son, who is in his 50s, was confirmed to have the virus on the same day, while the man’s wife, who is in her 70s, and his younger son, who is in his 40s, were both confirmed to have the virus on Monday.
The boy is the nation’s 31st confirmed case, and is also the youngest patient so far, Chen said.
The five family members live in two properties that house nine people. The houses are close to each other and the family members interact frequently, he said.
The 27th case’s younger son had worked in China last year, including in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and he returned to Taiwan from Guangzhou in December last year. He also met with friends who returned from China during the Lunar New Year holiday late last month, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
The friends are suspected to be the source of the infection and they have been tested for COVID-19, as well as the antibody for the virus, Chuang said.
Another 580 people who have had close contact with the five people are also being tested for COVID-19, he said.
The boy visited his grandfather in hospital on Feb. 11 and Wednesday last week, but did not experience any symptoms following the visits, Chuang said, adding that after his grandfather was confirmed to have COVID-19, the boy was tested and the positive result was confirmed yesterday.
The boy has been hospitalized and his classmates at the cram school he attended during the school winter break are being tested for COVID-19 infection, he said.
At the same news conference, Chen announced that starting from tomorrow, parents can purchase masks for their children with the child’s National Health Insurance card at pharmacies every day of the week and that one parent can buy masks for up to three children.
However, the parent can only buy up to four masks per child within a seven-day period and the child must be aged 13 or under, he said.
In related news, one evacuee from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, who is under 14-day quarantine, was taken to hospital for further observation after experiencing a mild fever on Monday night and yesterday morning, Hospital and Social Welfare Organizations Administration Commission Director Wang Pi-sheng (王必勝) said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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