TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (Feb. 9) confirmed one new domestic case of the Wuhan coronavirus and four imported cases.
Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced the new local coronavirus case and four imported infections, raising the total number of cases in Taiwan so far to 933. The latest local case is tied to a nurse from Taoyuan General Hospital, bringing the total for the hospital cluster infection to 21.
Chen said that case No. 934 is a Taiwanese woman in her 50s who is a relative of case No. 864, the husband of case No. 863, a nurse who works at the same hospital as case No. 838, a physician who was the first person in the cluster. Case 934 is also a family member of cases Nos. 865, 907, 909, and 910, all of whom live in the same residence.
She has been undergoing quarantine at home since Jan. 19 and underwent five coronavirus tests during that period, all of which came back negative. However, on Feb. 7, she began to experience fever and runny nose.
By Feb. 8, she believed that she was no longer symptomatic. Since she had applied to attend a funeral, the health department arranged for her to be tested for coronavirus at a hospital, where she tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 9.
Chen pointed out that four family members who lived with case No. 934 had previously been listed as contacts for case No. 864, and their quarantines have already expired. However, in order to be cautious, the home quarantine period for all four people will be extended to Feb. 22.
Since the outbreak began, Taiwan has carried out 165,840 COVID-19 tests, with 162,619 coming back negative. Out of the 933 officially confirmed cases, 817 were imported, 77 were local, 36 came from the Navy's "Goodwill Fleet," two were from a cargo pilot cluster, one is an unresolved case, and one (case No. 530) was removed as a confirmed case.
Up until now, nine individuals have succumbed to the disease, while 850 have been released from hospital isolation, leaving 74 patients still undergoing treatment in Taiwan.
