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.
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.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
RSS