The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported two imported cases of COVID-19, both Taiwanese who returned from Australia and the Philippines, bringing the nation’s total number of confirmed infections to 484.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC spokesperson, said that case No. 483 is a woman in her 30s who went to Australia for work in February and returned home on Friday.
The woman began experiencing symptoms, including a runny nose, nasal congestion and a cough, on Aug. 6, and reported her symptoms at the airport upon arriving in Taiwan, he said, adding that she was tested and taken to a centralized quarantine center, and the test result came back positive yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Fifty-five people who might have come into close contact with her have been identified, Chuang said.
He said that 41 passengers who sat close to her on the plane have been placed under home isolation, 12 crew members who wore protective gear during the flight have been asked to perform self-health management, and two Australian passengers who did not enter Taiwan would be informed through the National IHR Focal Point.
Case No. 484 is a man in his 40s who has worked in the Philippines since February and returned to Taiwan on Friday, Chuang said, adding that he developed a cough on Aug. 8, followed by a fever, headache, severe coughing and a loss of his sense of taste on Wednesday.
However, he only took medicine on his own and developed diarrhea on Thursday, Chuang said.
The man reported his symptoms to airport quarantine officers upon his arrival in Taiwan.
He was tested for COVID-19, taken to a centralized quarantine facility, and hospitalized in the evening after developing a fever and shortness of breath, Chuang said.
The local health department has placed 15 passengers who sat near him on the plane under mandatory home isolation, while the airline crew members have been asked to perform self-health management, he said.
Asked about Saturday’s report of a man who tested positive in Malaysia on Friday after traveling from Taiwan on Aug. 2, Chuang yesterday said that the man is a Malaysian married to a Taiwanese woman, who had contacted the CECC about the case.
The man stayed in Taiwan from February to Aug. 2, mainly in northern Taiwan, and had close contact with about five people, including his wife, Chuang said.
The man tested negative for COVID-19 in nasal and throat swab tests when he arrived in Malaysia after transiting in Hong Kong and took a bus to a designated hotel for quarantine, Chuang said.
He was given another test on Thursday before the end of his quarantine, which came back positive on Friday, he added.
However, polymerase chain reaction and antibody tests conducted on the man’s wife were negative, while the other four people who had come into close contact with him would be tested, Chuang said.
It is unlikely that the man transmitted the virus to other people in Taiwan, but the center would continue contact tracing to clarify if he spread the disease in the nation, he added.
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