Mon, Mar 30, 2020 page1

• Virus Outbreak: Fifteen new cases push total near 300

  CLUSTERED CASES: People who boarded EVA Airways Flight BR282 on March 20 should immediately seek medical help if they develop symptoms, the CECC said

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced 15 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Taiwan to 298.

  Fourteen of the new cases — nine men and five women — are imported cases who had returned to Taiwan between March 14 and Friday, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.

  Among them are three clusters of cases, including a married couple who visited Indonesia form March 10 to March 14, developed symptoms on Sunday last week and sought medical help on Thursday, he said.

  

  Volunteers from Tainan Community University’s Taijiang campus yesterday hold signs in front of a temple to raise community awareness about preventing the spread of COVID-19.

  Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times

  The second clustered case is a man who visited Morocco from March 10 to Sunday last week in a tour group, in which another traveler tested positive last week, Chen said.

  The third clustered case is also a married couple. The husband visited Spain and Portugal in a tour group from March 7 to March 16, but his wife had not traveled abroad recently.

  They both tested positive for COVID-19, Chen said.

  The wife, who is yesterday’s sole domestic case, could have been infected by her husband, the CECC said.

  One of the imported cases, the nation’s 284th, is a man who worked in the Philippines and returned to Taiwan on March 20 on the same commercial flight — EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) Flight BR282 — with another confirmed case, the nation’s 277th, which was confirmed on Saturday, Chen said.

  People who were on the flight should immediately contact local health departments if they develop COVID-19 symptoms, the CECC said.

  Although the two cases had greeted each other at the airport in the Philippines before boarding the flight, the center considers the likelihood of them contracting the coronavirus in the Philippines to be higher, Chen said.

  Seven of the new cases had been under home quarantine, four were detected at the airport upon arrival and four sought medical treatment on their own, he said.

  Following the confirmation of two domestic cases with unclear sources of infection on Saturday, the center has identified 449 people who have had come into contact with case No. 268, Chen said, adding that most of them would need to perform self-health management and would not be tested.

  The person visited New Taipei City’s Jinshan Old Street (金山老街) and Miao Kou thick pork soup (廟口肉羹) between 5:20pm and 6:54pm on Feb. 29, and visited Wulai Old Street (烏來老街) and the food stalls there from 2:30pm to 4:48pm on March 15, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.

  However, the center could not identify other people who visited the venues while the person was there, he said.

  The other domestic case announced on Saturday, the nation’s 269th, was found to have come into contact with an imported case (No. 277) on March 20, Chen said.

  Meanwhile, the nation’s 156th case, reported on Sunday last week, a nurse working at a long-term care facility, was yesterday discharged from hospital, making it the shortest period of hospitalization for a COVID-19 patient in Taiwan, he said.

  Chen also said that students at a senior-high school in northern Taiwan can return to school today after 74 people who had come into contact with a cluster of cases at the school tested negative for COVID-19.

  The nation’s 59th case, a student at the school, had tested positive after returning from a trip to Greece, causing classes to be suspended for two weeks.

  Asked if the CECC suggests any enhanced disease prevention measures, Chen said people should keep practicing social distancing, such as when waiting in lines, adding that the center is discussing whether to draft stricter regulations.

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