Taiwan's health ministry unveils 167 locations for Wuhan coronavirus testing

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has unveiled a list of 167 locations nationwide where on-demand Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) testing is being made available.

The hospitals are equipped with the latest machines to diagnose the disease and have well-trained medical teams capable of coping with the virus, the ministry stated on Thursday (March 12).

People with respiratory infection symptoms, as well as overseas travel or overseas traveler contact in the past 14 days, are given priority for testing. They will first get a throat swab before a clinical examination performed by a doctor. The swab test takes hours to run and should be ready within a day. There are more rapid tests, but they are not available quite yet.

If a doctor advises hospitalization but a negative pressure isolation ward is unavailable, the patient will be transferred to one of 50 designated medical centers which handle serious illnesses. If there is no need for hospitalization, the patient has to self-monitor and stay home while awaiting the test result.

List of the 167 hospitals or health centers nationwide: