Taiwan confirms 7 new imported COVID-19 cases

ROC Central News Agency

03/08/2021 04:42 PM

Taipei, March 8 (CNA) Taiwan on Monday confirmed seven new imported cases of COVID-19 -- one from the Philippines and two each from Paraguay, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia -- according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The case from the Philippines is a woman in her 20s who came to Taiwan to work on Feb. 19. She was confirmed as having COVID-19 after taking a self-paid test at a hospital on March 6.

Her test showed a CT value of 34, in the range of a relatively low viral load, and she had IgG antibodies but no IgM antibodies, indicating she was infected a while ago, according to the CECC.

One of three people she came into contact with in Taiwan has been asked to quarantine. The two others only have to follow self-health management protocols because they were adequately protected during the encounter, the CECC said.

The two cases that originated in Paraguay, meanwhile, involve a Paraguayan woman and a man in their 20s who came to Taiwan to study on March 5.

As the two transited through Brazil, they were required to stay in a government quarantine facility upon arrival and tested for COVID-19 on their first day. Their results came back positive on Monday, the CECC said.

The CECC will go through the World Health Organization to notify the 15 crew members on their flight who didn't enter Taiwan of the infection, it said.

Of the two cases from the U.K., one is a Taiwanese woman in her teens who was diagnosed with COVID-19 there in January. She tested negative for the disease on Feb. 27 and March 3 before returning to Taiwan on March 5.

As is required for all arrivals from the U.K., she stayed at a government quarantine center and received a COVID-19 test, and her result came back positive on Monday.

After testing positive, she told health authorities she had a headache a day after coming to Taiwan.

The other case from the U.K. is a Taiwanese woman in her 30s who also returned to Taiwan on March 5. She tested positive on her first day of quarantine, but has yet to show any symptoms of the disease so far, the CECC said.

When she was in the U.K., she had been in contact with someone who had COVID-19, the CECC said.

The two remaining cases reported Monday were Indonesian men who came to Taiwan to work as fishermen on Feb. 21. They tested positive prior to finishing quarantine at a government center, the CECC said.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 976 cases of COVID-19, 860 of which have been classified as imported. Of the total, 932 patients have recovered, 10 have died, and 34 are in the hospital, according to CECC statistics as of Monday.

Globally, COVID-19 has infected over 116.7 million people in 193 countries and regions, with more than 2.6 million fatalities, CECC data shows.

(By Chiang Yi-ching)

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