TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday (Oct. 28) announced that one new case of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) has been imported from Indonesia.
During his weekly press conference Wednesday afternoon, Minister of Health and Welfare and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced one new imported coronavirus case, raising the total number of cases in Taiwan to 551. Case no. 551 is a female Indonesian migrant worker in her teens who entered the country on Oct. 7 and has been asymptomatic so far.
Chen said that the woman was asymptomatic when she arrived in Taiwan and submitted a negative result for a coronavirus test taken within three days of her flight. After being screened by quarantine officers, she was taken from the airport to an epidemic prevention dormitory by her labor broker to begin her quarantine.
She did not at any point during her quarantine report any symptoms of the virus. After her quarantine ended on Oct. 22, her broker advised her to begin self-health monitoring at the same dormitory.
On Oct. 26, the broker arranged for her to undergo a test for the coronavirus at her own expense. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Oct. 28 and placed in a hospital isolation ward.
The health department announced that it has identified 25 people who have recently come in contact with the woman, including the broker, a translator, a dormitory worker, three drivers, and nine healthcare workers. As they were deemed to have worn proper protection when they interacted with her, they are being asked to begin self-health monitoring.
In addition, 10 Indonesian migrant workers who were on the same flight as case no. 551 have all tested negative for the coronavirus and have been told to begin home isolation.
The CECC on Thursday did not announce any new reports of people with suspected symptoms. Since the outbreak began, Taiwan has carried out 101,021 COVID-19 tests, with 99,758 coming back negative.
Out of the 550 confirmed cases, 458 were imported, 55 were local, 36 came from the Navy's "Goodwill Fleet," and one is an unresolved case. Up until now, seven individuals have succumbed to the disease, while 508 have been released from hospital isolation, leaving 35 patients still undergoing treatment in Taiwan.
