Four students in Taiwan test positive for COVID-19
ROC Central News Agency
11/03/2020 05:17 PM
Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) Three Taiwanese students who recently returned from abroad and a Philippine student in Taiwan have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 567, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Tuesday.
One of the cases is a Taiwanese in his 20s, who traveled to France to study in August, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said at a press briefing.
The student started having a sore throat, runny nose and a cough in mid-October, and had an altered sense of smell two weeks later.
The four COVID-19 tests he took at his school in France -- on Sept. 20, Oct. 8, Oct. 15 and Oct. 19 -- came back negative, however, and he returned to Taiwan on Nov. 1, Chuang said.
He reported his symptoms upon arrival and was tested for COVID-19, and he was confirmed on Tuesday as having the disease, Chuang said.
A total of 12 people who sat near the student on his flight are still in quarantine, as are two other students who traveled with him, Chuang said, although one of them has already tested negative for COVID-19 after reporting symptoms.
Another patient is a Taiwanese in her 20s who went to the United Kingdom to study in August, Chuang said.
On Oct. 29, she began to have a stuffy nose, and she flew back to Taiwan three days later. She was tested at the airport after reporting her symptoms and her result came back positive on Tuesday, Chuang said.
Of the 17 passengers who sat near the student on her flight, including one who was traveling with her, 13 are in quarantine while four transited in Taiwan to other overseas destinations, Chuang said.
The CECC will notify the four transit passengers of the situation via the World Health Organization's National IHR Focal Points, he said.
The remaining Taiwanese who tested positive is a boy under the age of 20, who went to study in Germany in October, according to Chuang.
He began to have a runny nose on Oct. 31 and returned to Taiwan the next day. While in quarantine at home, he experienced muscle pain, a headache and a runny nose, and he was confirmed with COVID-19 on Tuesday, Chuang said.
The 13 passengers who sat near the student on the flight home are all still in quarantine, Chuang said, while a person who lives with the student has been asked to simply follow a self-health management protocol.
That person was in a different room from the student and kept a distance and wore a mask when the two interacted and therefore was not required to go into quarantine, Chuang said.
The patient from the Philippines is a female student under the age of 20, and she presented proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of her flight when she came to Taiwan on Oct. 20, according to Chuang.
As is required for all travelers from the Philippines, she was tested for COVID-19 when she completed her quarantine, and the results came back positive on Tuesday, Chuang said.
The patient has been asymptomatic so far, Chuang added.
Six of the passengers who sat near the Filipina on her flight have all tested negative for COVID-19, he said.
To date, Taiwan has recorded 567 cases of COVID-19, with 475 classified as imported. Of the total, 521 have recovered, seven have died and 39 are in hospitals, according to CECC data.
Globally, COVID-19 has infected over 47 million people in 189 countries and regions, with more than 1.2 million fatalities, according to CECC statistics as of Tuesday.
(By Chiang Yi-ching)
Enditem/ls
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
