The disease prevention measures for Taiwanese returning from the Diamond Princess cruise ship are being successfully implemented, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
A China Airlines charter plane returning 19 Taiwanese from the quarantined Diamond Princess via Tokyo Haneda Airport landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 9:48pm on Friday.
The cruise ship has been under quarantine at Japan’s Yokohama Harbor since Feb. 4 after it emerged on Feb. 2 that a passenger from Hong Kong, who was onboard for an earlier part of the itinerary, was later diagnosed with COVID-19.
Photo: EPA-EFE
As of Friday, 634 of the ship’s 3,700 passengers and crew were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. The Central Epidemic Command Center has designated the ship an epidemic area.
Of the 24 Taiwanese onboard — 22 passengers and two crew members — five have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are receiving treatment in Japanese hospitals.
The remaining 19 received approval to disembark — five left on Wednesday, nine on Thursday and five on Friday.
Prevention measures were taken during the flight and on their arrival in Taiwan, when they were taken to hospitals in ambulances, said Chen, who heads the center.
The center sent a doctor, surnamed Su (蘇), to Japan to ensure that proper protective measures were taken before the 19 people boarded the charter flight, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Ho Chi-kung (何啟功) said.
Before midnight on Friday, the 19 people were in individual wards and had been given the first of two COVID-19 tests, Hospital and Social Welfare Organizations Administration Commission Director Wang Pi-Sheng (王必勝) said.
The results for the first test were all negative, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, adding that the second test was to be conducted at 11:30pm yesterday.
Those with negative results in both tests are to undergo a 14-day quarantine at a government quarantine center.
Additional reporting by CNA
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