The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new imported case of COVID-19, an arrival from the US.
Case No. 687 is a Taiwanese woman in her 30s who works in the US and on Sunday arrived in Taiwan to visit relatives, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, told a briefing in Taipei.
That day, the woman, who was quarantining at a residence, had throat discomfort, which she reported to authorities, he said.
Health authorities arranged for her to be tested for COVID-19 and admitted to a hospital for treatment, and her test result returned positive yesterday, Chuang said.
Twenty-five people were identified as having had contact with the woman: 14 people seated near her on the flight to Taiwan, as well as the 11 crew members, he added.
The 14 passengers have been placed in home isolation, while the crew members, who had proper protection, have been asked to monitor their health, Chuang said.
Of the nation’s confirmed cases of COVID-19, seven have died, while 107 remain hospitalized or in isolation as of yesterday, center data showed.
The CECC’s autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program, which began on Tuesday, stipulates that people must wear masks at eight types of public venues considered to have a high risk of infection transmission: healthcare facilities, public transportation, shopping centers, education facilities, sports and exhibition venues, leisure and entertainment venues, places of worship, and offices and businesses.
People who refuse to wear a mask after being asked to do so can be fined NT$3,000 to NT$15,000, the center said.
Yesterday, YouTube Taiwan named a video produced by the CDC on COVID-19 quarantine regulations as its most popular video of this year.
The video short was released on the CDC’s YouTube channel on April 6 and features CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is also a CECC official.
As of yesterday, more than 4.6 million people had viewed the video, which is subtitled in Chinese and Indonesian.
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