Taiwan confirms 3 new cases of COVID-19; total at 432

ROC Central News Agency

05/02/2020 04:13 PM

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Three new cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were confirmed in Taiwan on Saturday, bringing the total to 432 since the pandemic began late last year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The three new patients contracted the disease overseas, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC, at a daily press briefing.

In one of the cases, a woman in her 60s, who traveled to Australia on Feb. 22 and from there flew to Japan on March 24, started displaying symptoms, including a fever, coughing and vomiting on April 9 while overseas, the CECC said in a statement.

The woman proactively notified health authorities of her symptoms upon her return to Taiwan on April 30 and was confirmed positive Saturday, the CECC said.

The remaining two cases were a married couple, who traveled to Senegal in West Africa for work reasons on Feb. 11 and started experiencing symptoms of fatigue and coughing on April 26-27, the CECC said.

The couple returned to Taiwan on May 1 and were immediately sent for testing by airport health authorities. They were confirmed positive on Saturday, the CECC said.

The new cases come after Taiwan recorded its sixth consecutive day with no reported infections on Friday.

To date, 346 of Taiwan's 432 cases have been classified as imported, while 55 are believed to be local infections, according to CECC statistics.

The other 31 are military personnel who were serving on the Panshi Fast Combat Support Ship, part of a goodwill fleet that visited Palau from March 12-15, CECC statistics showed. At present, it has not been confirmed whether their infections are local or imported.

To date, 324 COVID-19 patients in Taiwan have recovered, six have died, and the others are in hospital, the CECC said.

Of the patients in the most critical condition, six are on respirators and two are receiving prolonged cardiac and respiratory support, CECC advisor Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.

Globally, COVID-19 has infected 3,381,839 people in 186 countries and regions, including 1,120,092 in the U.S., 215,216 in Spain, 207,428 in Italy, 200,137 in France, and 177,454 in the United Kingdom, with a total of 238,040 fatalities, according to CECC statistics as of Saturday.

(By William Yen)

Enditem/AW