Taiwan adds 7 new cases of COVID-19, total up to 355

ROC Central News Agency

04/04/2020 04:03 PM

Taipei, April 4 (CNA) Seven new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease were confirmed in Taiwan on Saturday, bringing the total in the country to 355 since the pandemic began late last year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The newly confirmed patients are all Taiwanese nationals, with six of them having contracted the disease overseas, while one is believed to have been infected locally, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC.

The local infection is a man in his 40s, whose source of infection was unclear as the man, who has no recent history of overseas travel, lives alone and mostly stays at home or goes to his workplace, the CECC said.

The man sought medical treatment on March 30 after developing a fever, and went to the hospital again on April 1 for a loss of smell and taste, it said. He tested positive on Saturday.

In the six imported cases, the patients all returned to Taiwan between March 15 and April 2 and began showing symptoms from March 16-30, the CECC said.

The two male and four female patients, aged between 20 and 70, had traveled to Switzerland, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and countries in South America.

Fifty of Taiwan's COVID-19 patients have been released from quarantine, while five have died. The others are still in hospital undergoing treatment, the CECC said.

Globally, COVID-19 has infected some 1,074,272 patients in 181 countries and regions, including 270,473 in the U.S., 119,827 in Italy, 117,710 in Spain, 81,639 in China and 79,696 in Germany, with a total 58,053 fatalities to date, according to the CECC.

(By Lee Hsin-Yin)

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