More than 100 people who had close contact with a Japanese student who tested positive for COVID-19 on her arrival in Japan from Taiwan are to have their blood tested to see if they have developed antibodies for the virus, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, after all of them tested negative for the virus.
The student arrived in late February to attend classes in southern Taiwan. She tested positive for the virus upon arrival at Narita Airport on Saturday last week.
The case was reported by the center on Wednesday.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
As the source of her infection is not clear, the CECC has not given the case a number.
The 123 people who had close contact with the woman, including teachers and former roommates, have been ordered to isolate at home.
On Monday, the center is to conduct blood tests on the 123 people to see whether they have been infected, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) told a news conference in Taipei.
A polymerase chain reaction test in Japan showed that the woman’s cycle threshold (CT) reading was between 37 and 38, which is considered “slightly positive” by Taiwan’s standards, Chuang said.
Scientists have yet to arrive at a consensus over what CT value should constitute a confirmed case, he said.
It is possible that the result from the test done in Japan is not reliable, given that people who had close contact with her have all tested negative so far, he said, adding that it was possible that she was infected in Taiwan one or two months ago, or even earlier.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had reported 447 cases, with seven fatalities, CECC data showed.
They comprised 356 imported cases, 55 local cases and 36 among crew members on the navy supply ship Panshih (磐石), the data showed.
In related news, eight foreign students arrived yesterday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and began 14 days of isolation, the Ministry of Education said.
They are among the first batch of 2,238 students allowed to re-enter Taiwan after the center last week announced a list of 11 low-risk countries or regions from which students can return to study in Taiwan, with those planning to graduate this semester prioritized.
The places are Australia, Bhutan, Brunei, Fiji, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Thailand, New Zealand, Palau and Vietnam.
On Thursday, the airport reopened for transit passengers whose stay is scheduled for less than eight hours. Seven travelers from the Philippines arrived at the airport yesterday on transit stops before flights to three cities in the US.
Additional reporting by CNA
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS