Taiwan yesterday confirmed 14 new imported cases of COVID-19, the highest number in a single day since April, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
Thirteen of the cases were female Indonesian migrant workers in their 20s to 40s, Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) told a news conference in Taipei.
Twelve of them arrived in Taiwan on Nov. 12 on the same flight, while the other one arrived on Nov. 11, Lo said.
Photo: CNA
The 13 women were administered COVID-19 tests upon completion of their mandatory 14-day quarantine, and the results returned positive, he said.
They were all asymptomatic, except one who said that she experienced a sore throat on Thursday last week and a runny nose on Monday, but did not immediately report the symptoms, Lo said.
Despite the high number of cases on the same flight, the CECC said that no contact tracing would be conducted, as the quarantine period had already elapsed.
The cases could be isolated infections, rather than a cluster, as the women attended job training at several different centers in Indonesia and did not sit close to each other on the flight to Taiwan, Lo said.
The 14th case was that of a Taiwanese man in his 30s, who resides in the US and reported no symptoms on arrival in Taiwan on Friday last week, Lo said.
However, after checking into a quarantine hotel, the man on Saturday last week experienced a sore throat and fatigue, but did not report his symptoms to health authorities until Wednesday, Lo said.
Eleven people who sat near him on the flight to Taiwan have been asked to report if they experience symptoms during their mandatory quarantine, while 12 other contacts, including the flight crew and a driver, were deemed sufficiently protected and would not be required to self-isolate, Lo said.
The 14 new cases were the highest number of new imported infections reported in Taiwan in a single day since April 19, when 22 cases were confirmed, 21 of which were part of a cluster infection aboard a Taiwanese naval ship, CECC statistics showed.
To date, Taiwan has reported 639 cases of COVID-19, 547 of which were classified as imported.
Of the total, 555 patients have recovered, seven have died and 77 remain hospitalized, CECC data showed.
Indonesia has as of yesterday recorded 516,753 cases of COVID-19 and 16,352 fatalities, data released by the Web site Worldometers showed.
Meanwhile, in accordance with the CECC’s disease prevention measures for the fall and winter, the Taiwan Railways Administration and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp announced that starting on Wednesday next week, people must wear mask as soon as they enter train station lobbies and ticketing areas.
Food and drinks are still allowed on the trains as long as passengers practice social distancing, the railway operators said, adding that passengers must put their masks back on after they finished eating or drinking.
Aside from monitoring people’s temperatures at station entrances, facilities including train carriages and escalators would also be periodically disinfected, they added.
Additional reporting by Cheng Wei-chi
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS