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Taiwan reports new imported case of COVID-19

ROC Central News Agency

08/22/2020 04:07 PM

Taipei, Aug. 22 (CNA) Taiwan confirmed one new imported case of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number in the country since the start of the pandemic to 487, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The patient is a Taiwanese woman in her 20s who had traveled to Mexico in late January for work purposes and returned to Taiwan on Wednesday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said at a press briefing in Taipei.

On arrival in Taiwan, the woman was tested for COVID-19 after she told quarantine officers at the airport that she felt unwell, Chen said, adding that the results came back positive Friday.

While in Mexico, the woman developed symptoms of nausea and diarrhea on July 15, and the doctors diagnosed her with gastroenteritis, according to Chen.

By Aug. 1, however, her symptoms had escalated to headaches, sore throat and chest pains, and she sought medical attention again on Aug. 9, he said.

At that point, while the doctors in Mexico suspected that the woman had contracted COVID-19, they could not provide a test, and her Taiwanese employer decided to send her back to Taiwan for medical attention, Chen said.

According to the CECC, the woman was wearing full protective gear on the flight into Taiwan and said she had not had any meals or used the bathroom on the plane.

The patient is now in a hospital negative pressure isolation room, the CECC said,

The 10 passengers who were seated closest to her on the plane are in home quarantine, while the 15 flight crew members have been asked to conduct self-health management, the CECC said.

The latest COVID-19 case brings the total number in Taiwan to 487, with 395 classified as imported, 55 as locally acquired, and 36 as a cluster infection on board a naval ship, an outbreak that was deemed to have originated in Taiwan, according to the CECC.

(By Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin)

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