TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — At least 24 Taiwanese have died abroad from the coronavirus (COVID-19), Taiwanese authorities confirmed on Monday (April 27).
The deceased were among the 85 Taiwanese living overseas known to be infected, stated Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) at a legislative session on Monday. Of the 24, 13 were based in Brazil, nine in the U.S., and one each in Indonesia and Japan.
According to Wu, most of the confirmed overseas Taiwanese cases were detected in Brazil and the U.S., with a few also found in Europe and Asia. The data was collected by 36 OCAC offices around the world, said Wu, who observed that the figure should be close to the actual number.
It is estimated that the number of Taiwanese residing overseas has surpassed 1.98 million. The country's overseas offices would continue offering assistance to those in need, said Wu, adding that the OCAC had recently sent 1,350 face masks to Taiwanese expatriates in Brazil.
The coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected nearly three million around the world and killed more than 200,000 as of Monday. The U.S. has been hit the hardest by the virus since large-scale community transmission was discovered in mid-March, while Brazil has both the most confirmed cases and highest death toll in Latin America.