The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new imported case of COVID-19, a Taiwanese woman in her 30s who traveled to the Philippines in late January for work.
Case No. 452 returned to the nation alone on Tuesday, the center said.
On June 30, her company arranged for her to take an antibody test, the result of which was negative, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the center’s spokesman, said at a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
On Tuesday afternoon, the woman began experiencing an “abnormal” sense of smell, which she reported to authorities when she arrived in Taiwan that night, he said.
She was tested for COVID-19 at the airport, before being sent to a quarantine facility, the center said.
On her flight to Taiwan, the patient was seated in the first row and wore a mask for the duration of the flight, Chuang said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
Health authorities have identified 12 people as having had contact with case No. 452, including a passenger who was seated in the row behind her, and 11 flight crew members, the center said.
The other passenger has been placed under home isolation, while the crew members, who had taken proper protective measures, are practicing self-health management, it added.
As of yesterday, Taiwan has recorded 452 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 361 imported cases, 55 local infections and 36 cases from the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla,” as well as seven deaths, CECC data showed.
Meanwhile, Taoyuan International Airport Corp yesterday began using new facilities to collect specimens to test for COVID-19 at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
The specimen-collection structures, two converted 12.19m shipping containers, will be where passengers visiting or returning from pandemic-affected nations or regions can be tested.
The containers — outside Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 — were designed to meet requirements governing the collection of diagnostic specimens from air passengers, the airport operator said.
Each has five inspection rooms, where staff and passengers are separated by walls and acrylic partitions, it said, adding that they have separate air-conditioning systems as well.
When necessary, each inspection room can accommodate more than one passenger at a time, the company said.
Staff members only need to wear gloves, insert their hands into two holes in the partition and gather samples, it said.
Each inspection room would be ventilated through a high-efficiency particulate air system, and workers use alcohol and ultraviolet light to disinfect and sterilize the facilities, it said.
All samples are temporarily stored in a separate room before being sent to medical laboratories, to prevent the spread of the disease, the company said.
The airport had previously used two makeshift facilities outside the terminals to collect specimens. Each was built with wooden partitions and did not have a roof for ventilation purposes, it said, adding that staff members were required to wear full protective gear and could only handle one passenger at a time.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS