The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new COVID-19 case, a cadet who had been aboard the navy supply ship Panshih (磐石) adding that the cadet tested positive in a second test, but had antibodies.
Between Saturday last week and Tuesday, the center reported 27 confirmed cases who were crew members of the Panshih, one of the three vessels making up a “Friendship Flotilla” that visited Palau.
After the first case was confirmed on Saturday, all 744 officers, sailors and cadets on board the three vessels were recalled for testing and ordered into quarantine for 14 days.
Photo: Chang Yi-chen, Taipei Times
From March 23, the cadet, in his 20s, started coughing, developed a fever and experienced a loss of smell, but his condition improved after taking medicine, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The cadet tested negative after arriving at a quarantine facility on Saturday, but after having a stuffy nose and losing his sense of smell on Sunday, he was given another test, which came back positive yesterday, Chen said.
Five crew members who sought treatment for fever from the Panshih’s medical officer between March 21 and March 26 had antibody blood tests at the quarantine center, CECC advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) reported on Monday, adding that three of them had antibodies, but tested negative.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The new case was one of the people who had antibodies, but he tested positive in the second examination, Chang said.
After the body of an infected person begins to produce antibodies, the virus usually weakens, but might not immediately disappear, so there might be a period in which both the antibodies and the virus can be detected, he said.
People with the antibody and the virus are likely to test negative sometimes and positive other times — but the virus is typically more difficult to culture at this stage, so the risk of such people transmitting the virus to others is lessened, Chang said.
Asked about some countries wanting to conduct wide-scale antibody testing so that people with immunity could return to work, Chang said that the concept has a scientific base, as people with antibodies are believed to be safe from contracting the virus again.
However, whether people who have the antibody and the virus at the same time can infect others needs further study, Chang said.
So far, 28 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among crew members of the Panshih and 692 people have been identified as having had direct contact with them, Chen said, adding that 446 of those identified have been placed in home quarantine and 246 of them were practicing self-health management.
Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that 229 Taiwanese from China’s Hubei Province and 14 crew landed in Taiwan on a “quasi-charter flight” from Shanghai at about 9:15pm on Tuesday.
One passenger had a mild fever and respiratory symptoms. They were isolated and tested, but the results came back negative, he said, adding that the other passengers were settled in quarantine facilities and received their first test.
All 231 Taiwanese who arrived on a quasi-charter flight from China’s Hubei Province on Monday evening tested negative in the first test, he added.
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