Medical authorities are increasingly perplexed by the nation’s 24th COVID-19 patient — a woman in her 60s from northern Taiwan with no recent history of travel abroad and an unknown source of infection.
The woman’s case, which was confirmed on Wednesday, might go back to the early days of the outbreak.
According to a timeline provided by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), on Jan. 6, the woman came in contact with her daughter’s classmate, who had returned from Hangzhou, China.
However, doctors who treated the woman believe that this encounter was too early to have been the infection source.
The woman on Jan. 22 became ill and after visiting two clinics over the course of a week, she was on Jan. 30 admitted to a hospital.
She on Feb. 10 had respiratory failure and was transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit. She was on Monday moved to a negative-pressure isolation room before testing positive for the virus on Wednesday.
On Friday, her granddaughter, who had on Feb. 12 visited her in the hospital, was confirmed as Taiwan’s 25th COVID-19 patient, while the woman’s daughter was confirmed to be the 26th patient.
Researchers are using an international virus genome database to track the virus’ mutations based on time and location, a healthcare worker involved in the government’s COVID-19 testing efforts said.
The bewildering thing about the 24th patient is that the structure of the virus she was infected with resembles that of the virus from the outbreak’s beginning, as opposed to that seen more recently in locales such as Japan or South Korea, the source said.
From a virological standpoint, this suggests that the virus was present in her body for an extended period, the source said.
The number of trips to the doctor before being diagnosed and the potentially large number of people she came in contact with makes finding the infection source a “real nightmare,” said Hwang Kao-pin (黃高彬), director of China Medical University Hospital’s Pediatric Infectious Diseases Division in Taipei.
The case shows that Taiwan has reached a point where travel history cannot be the only criterion for judging risk of infection, said Shih Shin-ru (施信如), director of Chang Gung University’s Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections.
The CECC, recognizing this, has not only expanded the screening protocol, but gone back and tested those with unexplained respiratory infections — which is how they found the 24th patient, she said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS