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.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS