The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one imported case of COVID-19 — a Taiwanese man who is the nation’s first case to test positive in another country and return via a medical charter flight.
The man, who is in his 50s, had traveled to Ghana for business in February, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC spokesman.
The man had close contact with a confirmed case late last month and took a test for COVID-19 on Nov. 4, which came back positive, so he had been quarantined at home, Chuang said.
The man had shortness of breath, chest pain and fever during quarantine, and was hospitalized for treatment on Nov. 11, but his condition continued to worsen, so he applied to Taiwanese authorities to arrange for an emergency medical charter to return home, Chuang said.
The man arrived on Friday, and was immediately taken to a hospital for testing and treatment, with the result yesterday coming back positive, he said.
“The man is the 618th confirmed case in Taiwan,” Chuang said. “He is also the first approved special case of an individual confirmed with COVID-19 to return to Taiwan on an emergency medical charter.”
Some have questioned why the man was allowed to return when he does not meet the requirements for Taiwanese infected with COVID-19 in other countries to return home.
The requirements, announced by the center in June, are that: “the onset of symptoms and the flight boarding date must be at least two months apart and their symptoms must have been relieved,” and “must test negative in two polymerase chain reaction [PCR] tests conducted at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms.”
The CECC approved the man’s application because his condition is serious, as he has an underlying condition, has undergone tracheal intubation and the medical resources where he was staying were relatively limited, Chuang said.
The man paid for his own treatment in Ghana, but the center has yet to confirm whether he paid for the flight or his health insurance did, Chuang said.
However, as he has been confirmed to have COVID-19, his treatment in Taiwan would be covered by the government, he added.
The man is not the first case of a Taiwanese returning on an emergency medical charter, but he is the first confirmed case of COVID-19, he said.
As of yesterday, a total of 36 people had returned to Taiwan for emergency treatment on medical charter flights for the following conditions — cerebral hemorrhage (36 percent), cerebral infarction (18 percent), bone fracture (12 percent), respiratory disease (6 percent) and other problems (28 percent), the CECC said.
Separately yesterday, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said at a meeting of a legislative committee that the new policy requiring all arriving travelers, including Republic of China citizens, to provide a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of boarding a flight was a decision made because there were no better alternatives.
Asked by Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) whether the policy contravenes Article 10 of the Constitution, which protects people’s freedom of residence, as well as the Council of Grand Justices’ Interpretation No. 558, which says the article also protects people’s freedom to move, travel, and leave or return to the country.
Chen said he would consult with other government agencies about the issue, while adding that the policy was made after considering the risks of spreading the virus to other passengers during travel and the threat to the nation’s medical capacity if infected cases enter local communities.
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