TAIPEI, Taiwan
Taiwan was enjoying accolades from around the world last year as one of the only populous places to avoid a major COVID-19 outbreak.
Strict quarantine rules and contact tracing had let the island of 24 million people go for eight months without the kind of local transmission that has swamped hospitals and hobbled economies around the globe.
The streak was abruptly snapped last month after a cargo-plane pilot for the country’s privately owned EVA Air returned from the United States, where Taiwan health officials believe he caught the coronavirus. He went on to infect a friend. Two copilots were also infected.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported three new imported cases of COVID-19, arrivals from Nigeria, Egypt and the US, bringing the total number of cases in Taiwan to 825.
A Taiwanese businessman in his 70s began to experience fever, shortness of breath and fatigue on Dec. 24 last year while based in Nigeria, the center said in a news release.
Three days later, when he sought local treatment after his symptoms worsened, he was diagnosed with pneumonia, the center said.
After the diagnosis, he tested negative for COVID-19 twice, but was immediately hospitalized and quarantined upon returning to Taiwan on a
Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has updated with more clarity its COVID-19 guidelines ahead of the Lunar New Year as many Taiwanese living overseas in areas where the coronavirus is more prevalent return home for the holiday.
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CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang hosts a press briefing on the newly confirmed cases. CNA photo Jan. 8, 2021
Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) Taiwan reported three new imported cases of COVID-19 on Friday, one each arriving from Nigeria, Egypt and the United States, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 825, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
One of the new cases involved a Nigeria-based Taiwanese businessman who began to experience symptoms including fever, shortness of breath and fatigue on Dec. 24, 2020, while still in Nigeria, the CECC said in a news release.