Taiwan reports new imported COVID-19 cases from the Philippines, U.S.

ROC Central News Agency

12/29/2020 04:09 PM

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Taiwan reported two new imported cases of COVID-19 infections, one each from the Philippines and the United States on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 795, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Both presented negative coronavirus reports issued three days before they boarded their flights and neither has shown any symptoms of COVID-19 so far, the center said in a press release. The individual arriving from the United States, the center said, is an Indian national who has long resided in the U.S. and came to Taiwan with his family for work.

The man, who is in his 30s, had been in quarantine in a designated hotel since his arrival on Dec. 13, according to the CECC.

After completing quarantine, his employer arranged for a test on Monday and the result came back positive on Tuesday, the CECC said, adding that among 15 people who came into contact with the man, four have been quarantined and 11 have been placed in self-health management, which entails taking one's temperature twice daily and wearing a mask whenever in public.

The second case, the CECC said, involves a Filipino migrant worker who was quarantined at a government designated center upon his arrival on Dec. 14.

The man, who is in his 30s, received a test arranged by his labor broker on Sunday prior to completing quarantine and the result came back positive on Tuesday, according to the center.

There was no need for contact tracing as the man had not been in contact with anyone else during quarantine, the CECC added.

As of Tuesday, Taiwan had recorded 795 cases of COVID-19, 700 of which have been classified as imported. Of the total, 661 have recovered, 127 are hospitalized and seven have died, CECC data shows.

Since the onset of the pandemic, COVID-19 has infected about 81.24 million people in 191 countries and regions worldwide, with more than 1.77 million fatalities, according to CECC statistics as of Tuesday.

(By Chung Yu-chen)

Enditem/AW