The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed three new imported cases of COVID-19, arrivals from Canada, the US and Poland, bringing Taiwan’s total to 958 cases.
A Taiwanese man in his 20s who was studying in Canada provided a required negative COVID-19 test result and had no symptoms before entering Taiwan on Friday last week and beginning quarantine, but on Sunday, his sense of smell changed and he had a runny nose, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news briefing in Taipei.
He sought treatment and was tested for COVID-19 at a hospital, and the result returned positive yesterday, Chen said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Health authorities have identified 21 people who had contact with the man, including 17 cabin crew members and four passengers on his flight to Taiwan, Chen added.
A Taiwanese woman in her 50s who in November last year flew to the US to visit relatives had a negative COVID-19 test result and entered Taiwan on Friday last week, but she had an itchy throat on Monday, he said.
She was tested that day and the result returned positive yesterday, Chen said, adding that one contact had been identified and was quarantining at home.
The third case was a Polish man in his 40s who had a negative COVID-19 test result and entered Taiwan for work on Feb. 18, but his sense of smell changed on Monday, Chen said, adding that he was tested that day and the result returned positive yesterday.
There were no contacts to trace because the man had been in quarantine since his arrival, he added.
Of Taiwan’s 958 COVID-19 cases, 842 have been classified as imported. Although nine people with COVID-19 have died and 23 remain hospitalized, 926 people have recovered, CECC data showed.
Yesterday, the center changed the COVID-19 risk assessment for Australia from low-to-moderate risk to low, allowing short-term business travelers from the country to further shorten their quarantine period.
In Taiwan, business travelers from countries with an assessment of low-to-moderate or low risk can apply to have their 14-day quarantine shortened, as long as they pay to take a test for COVID-19 when they finish and the result returns negative.
Those from countries with a low risk of contracting COVID-19 can apply to have their quarantine end on the fifth day after their arrival, while those from countries of low-to-moderate risk can apply to have it end after seven.
The center has assessed New Zealand, Macau, Palau, Fiji, Brunei, Laos, Nauru, East Timor, Mauritius, the Marshall Islands, Bhutan and Australia to be of low risk.
The center has listed Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia as being of low-to-moderate risk.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
Actress Hu Ling (胡伶) on Saturday became the first Chinese movie star to walk the red carpet of the Golden Horse Awards since 2019, when China boycotted Taiwan’s biggest awards show over political tensions. Beijing banned its entertainers from joining the awards, dubbed the Chinese-language Oscars, after documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) voiced support for Taiwan’s formal independence in an acceptance speech in 2018. There were no films from China in the 2019 nomination list and several Hong Kong movies dropped out that year, while several big commercial productions were conspicuously absent at both the 2020 and 2021 awards. However, Hu, nominated for