Wanted Taiwanese man among 4 imported COVID cases from Philippines

遭通緝台灣男子為菲律賓移入的4例冠狀病毒病例之一

Wanted man brought back to Taiwan from Philippines to face justice, tests positive for COVID


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Monday (March 15) confirmed five COVID-19 infections imported from the Philippines and France, including a Taiwanese man who is wanted in Taiwan for allegedly committing criminal offenses.

During a press conference on Monday, CECC Spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) announced five imported infections, raising the country's total number of cases to 990. The latest cases include three Filipinos, one Frenchman, and one Taiwanese citizen, the last of whom is wanted by the law.

Each had submitted a negative result of a coronavirus test taken within three days of their flight, and each was sent directly to their residence or a quarantine center upon arrival in Taiwan.

Chuang said that case No. 987 is a Filipino woman in her 30s who came to Taiwan for work on Feb. 28. As her quarantine was set to end, she underwent a coronavirus test on March 13 and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 15.

She has been asymptomatic since her arrival in Taiwan. Since she had not come into contact with others when she was believed to be infectious, no contacts have been listed in her case.

According to Chuang, case No. 988 is a Frenchman in his 50s who is a colleague of his countryman, case No. 982., who did not test positive for the virus until 44 days after his quarantine in Taiwan had ended. Similar to his countryman, case No. 988 did not test positive for the coronavirus until 47 days after his quarantine in Taiwan ended.

Case No. 989 is a male in his 50s who went to the Philippines for work in January of 2019. As he was wanted in Taiwan for a criminal case, he was sent back to the country from the Philippines on March 12.

After arriving in the country, he was sent to a detention center to undergo quarantine and testing. On March 15, he tested positive for COVID-19.

The health department has identified 14 contacts in his case, all of whom are passengers who sat in the two rows directly in front of and behind him during the flight to Taiwan. All of these passengers have been told to begin home isolation.

Cases 990 and 991 are male Filipino fisheries workers who came to Taiwan for work on Feb. 26. When their quarantine ended on March 13, their company arranged for them to undergo coronavirus tests at their own expense.

On March 15, they both tested positive for COVID-19. The health department has listed five contacts in their cases, but because they all wore proper protective equipment when interacting with the men, they have only been asked to start self-health monitoring.

Since the outbreak began, Taiwan has carried out 181,352 COVID-19 tests, with 179,307 coming back negative. Out of the 990 officially confirmed cases, 874 were imported, 77 were local, 36 came from the Navy's "Goodwill Fleet," two were from a cargo pilot cluster, one was an unresolved case, and one (case No. 530) was removed as a confirmed case.

Up until now, 10 individuals have succumbed to the disease, while 951 have been released from hospital isolation, leaving 29 patients still undergoing treatment in Taiwan.