One new imported case of COVID-19 reported in Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

12/03/2020 02:58 PM

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) A Taiwanese woman who works in the United States and returned home recently to visit family was the only new COVID-19 patient confirmed in Taiwan on Thursday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The one new case, reported after a recent spike in imported numbers, brings the total number in the country to 686 since the pandemic began late last year, the CECC said.

The new patient, a woman in her 30s who returned to Taiwan on Nov. 29, developed a sore throat the same day while in home quarantine, the CECC said in a statement.

After notifying health authorities, she was tested for COVID-19 and confirmed Thursday to have contracted the virus, the CECC said.

The 14 people who sat closest to the woman on her flight to Taiwan are in mandatory quarantine, the CECC said.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 686 cases of COVID-19, with 594 classified as imported. Of the total, 572 have recovered, seven have died and 107 are in hospital, CECC data shows.

Globally, COVID-19 has infected over 64.5 million people in 191 countries and regions, with more than 1.4 million fatalities, according to CECC statistics as of Thursday.

(By Chiang Yi-ching)

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