The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reiterated its COVID-19 testing policy amid concerns that not enough was being done after a Japanese student who last week returned home from Taiwan was confirmed to have the disease.
Taiwan on Tuesday received notice from Japanese authorities of a confirmed case of COVID-19, a female student in her 20s who had returned to Japan from Taiwan and was asymptomatic, the CECC said on Wednesday.
The student traveled to Taiwan in late February and had been studying in southern Taiwan, it said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
She returned to Japan on Saturday last week and tested positive upon her arrival there, it said.
Japanese authorities yesterday morning told the center that the woman’s cycle threshold was 37.38, which in Taiwan would be considered a “weak positive,” Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), spokesman for the center, told a news conference in Taipei.
Japanese authorities and the center believe that the case was unlikely to have been contagious at the time of testing, Chuang said.
As the student showed no symptoms, it is difficult to know when she was infected, he said.
The center could not rule out the possibility that the student was infected in Taiwan, he said.
The center’s policy is that if an individual is displaying symptoms and suspected of having the virus by a doctor, they can be tested, he said.
For every confirmed case of COVID-19, the center usually tests an additional 160 to 170 people, he said, adding that this level of testing was deemed to be extra cautious.
The center on Wednesday said that it identified 140 people who had been in contact with the Japanese student, including 125 people who had been placed in home isolation and 15 who have been asked to self-manage their health.
The center yesterday revised the number of people ordered into home isolation to 123.
All 123 had been tested for COVID-19 as of last night, it said.
Negative results for 109 of the 123 had been received as of press time last night.
The results for the remainder would be released today, Chuang said.
Meanwhile, the center reported one new imported case.
The patient — the nation’s 447th case — is a man in his 60s who traveled to Guatemala in early April for business, Chuang said.
On June 1, he developed symptoms including coughing, shortness of breath and aching bones, Chuang said.
The man sought medical advice in Guatemala, but twice tested negative for the novel coronavirus, Chuang said.
On Tuesday, the man’s symptom of breathlessness worsened, Chuang said, adding that upon his arrival in Taiwan on Wednesday, he reported his situation to authorities at the airport and was retested.
He was sent to a quarantine facility and did not come into contact with family members or friends in Taiwan, Chuang said.
Ten passengers sat in the two rows in front of and behind the man and they have been ordered to isolate at home, he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hui-chin
SOLIDARITY: A group of European lawmakers condemned China’s aggressive moves, while the foreign minister of Lithuania said Taiwan ‘cannot become a second Ukraine’ A German parliamentary delegation would visit Taiwan in the first week of October, German lawmaker Holger Becker on Monday told visiting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun (范雲) and Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) at the Bundestag in Berlin. Asked by Fan whether he is worried about possible reprisals from Beijing, such as banning him and his family from entering China, Becker said he is more interested in visiting Taiwan, as “now is the time for democracies to stand together.” Fan and Lin also met with German officials to exchange views on digital education and governance. Investing in digital infrastructure and protecting equal rights to
As China waged extensive military exercises off Taiwan, a group of US defense experts in Washington was focused on their own simulation of an eventual — but for now entirely hypothetical — US-China war over the nation. The unofficial what-if game is being conducted on the fifth floor of an office building not far from the White House, and it posits a US military response to a Chinese invasion in 2026. Even though the participants bring a US perspective, they are finding that a US-Taiwan victory, if there is one, could come at a huge cost. “The results are showing that under
DRILLS CONTINUE: China’s creation of a restricted zone across the median line of the Taiwan Strait challenges a 70-year-old fact, a ministry of defense official said The nation’s military fully complies with international rules and guidelines when responding to Chinese military drills, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, vowing to continue defending Taiwan in accordance with international law. China on Thursday launched four days of military drills around Taiwan proper in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. The drills were expected to end on Sunday, but neither Beijing nor Taipei confirmed their conclusion, although the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it had seen some evidence suggesting at least a partial drawdown. However, China yesterday said the drills would continue, saying “the
A senior Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman has prompted a storm of ridicule online, after a late-night post in which she used restaurant listings to assert Beijing’s claim over Taiwan. “Baidu Maps show that there are 38 Shandong dumpling restaurants and 67 Shanxi noodle restaurants in Taipei,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) posted on Twitter late on Sunday. “Palates don’t cheat. #Taiwan has always been a part of China. The long lost child will eventually return home,” she added. Hua’s post came at the end of a week of tensions around the Taiwan Strait, during which Beijing raged at a
RSS