Five foreign nationals test positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan
ROC Central News Agency
11/02/2020 04:53 PM
Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) Five foreign nationals from India, Indonesia and the Philippines, who came to Taiwan for work, have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of cases in Taiwan to 563, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday.
One of the newly confirmed cases is an Indian man in his 30s, who tested negative for COVID-19 twice in the three days before his flight to Taiwan in mid-October, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said at a press briefing.
After completing his mandatory 14-day quarantine, the man took a self-paid COVID-19 test at his company's request, and the result came back positive on Monday, Chuang said, adding that he has been asymptomatic so far.
The CECC has instructed a co-worker of the patient, who traveled to Taiwan with him and has tested negative for COVID-19, to quarantine again. In addition, the hotel staff and taxi drivers the patient came into contact with have been instructed to follow self-health management protocols, Chuang said.
Another three patients confirmed Monday are from Indonesia, two of whom are women in their 30s and one a man in his 20s.
The man is one of three migrant workers who traveled to Taiwan together on Oct. 14, Chuang said, one of whom was confirmed with COVID-19 on Sunday.
The other two, including the newly confirmed patient, initially tested negative for the disease but developed a cough and sore throat, so were tested again, Chuang said.
One of the results came back positive on Monday, while the other still tested negative for COVID-19, he said.
A broker at a work agency who had been in contact with the three migrant workers has also tested negative for the disease, Chuang added.
Of the two female patients from Indonesia, one tested negative at the end of her quarantine on Oct. 23. She then began staying at a dormitory a broker arranged for her and followed self-health management protocols.
At the request of her employer, she took a self-paid COVID-19 test a week later and her results came back positive on Monday, Chuang said.
Two people the patient had contact with at the dormitory have been asked to quarantine, while her broker and 33 people the patient traveled with on a shuttle bus have been instructed to follow self-health management protocols.
The other Indonesian woman tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of her quarantine and has shown no symptoms so far, Chuang said.
The remaining patient is a woman in her 20s from the Philippines, who tested negative for COVID-19 in the three days before her flight to Taiwan, Chuang said.
She tested positive for the disease when her quarantine ended, however, and the people she had contact with on her flight and a taxi driver have been instructed to follow self-health management protocols.
According to Chuang, 20 migrant workers from the Philippines and 11 from Indonesia have tested positive for COVID-19 in Taiwan so far.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 563 cases of COVID-19, with 471 classified as imported. Of the total, 519 have recovered, seven have died and 37 are in hospital, CECC data shows.
Globally, COVID-19 has infected over 46.5 million people in 189 countries and regions, with more than 1.2 million fatalities, according to CECC statistics as of Monday.
(By Chiang Yi-ching)
Enditem/AW
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