The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported three new imported cases of COVID-19, arrivals from Germany, Indonesia and Ireland, bringing the nation’s total number of confirmed cases to 693.
One of the cases, a Taiwanese woman in her 30s, went to Ireland in July last year and returned on Nov. 19, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman.
The woman reported a mild itchy throat when she arrived in Taiwan, but said it went away on Nov. 23 during her stay at a quarantine hotel, he said.
Photo: CNA
After she was informed on Wednesday last week that an Irish friend had tested positive for the disease, she reported that she had lost her sense of smell, he added.
Although she initially tested negative after first reporting her symptoms, a second test came back positive yesterday, he said.
A German man in his 30s who arrived on Sunday last week to visit family in Taiwan had provided a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result obtained within 72 hours before boarding the flight, and did not report any COVID-19 symptoms, Chuang said.
The man reported that on Saturday last week he had been in close contact with a person who tested positive for the illness in Germany on Saturday last week, and on Thursday he reported headaches, chills and a runny nose while staying at a quarantine hotel, Chuang said, adding that a test for him also came back positive.
The third case is a Taiwanese man in his 30s, who went to Indonesia for work in mid-August, Chuang said, adding that the man reported that on Oct. 12 he had fatigue, fever and diarrhea, but as the symptoms had ended on Oct. 21, he returned to Taiwan on Nov. 8.
During home quarantine, the man did not experience any symptoms, but took a paid-out-of-pocket PCR test on Wednesday, which came back positive yesterday, Chuang said.
Separately, Chuang commented on an Indonesian migrant worker reported as confirmed on Friday who had arrived on Nov. 13 with a negative PCR test result within three days prior to boarding her flight.
The woman had tested negative when her quarantine ended, but tested positive on Tuesday in a paid-out-of-pocket test.
Chuang said that she was tested again on Friday, and the saliva and nasal swab specimens both tested negative for the virus, but her antibody test was returned positive, which suggests she is likely to have been infected for some time, possibly while in Indonesia.
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