On March 18, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced eight new confirmed imported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan. Those eight new cases arrived in Taiwan from Oman (Case #992), the Philippines (Cases #993-995), Egypt (Cases #996-997), and Vietnam (Cases #998-999).

Case #992 is a Taiwanese man in his 30s. The Taiwanese man returned to Taiwan from Oman on March 5. During his home quarantine period, he began to develop an abnormal sense of smell, a sore throat, and coughing on March 14. Because he developed a fever on March 16, the health authority arranged for him to seek medical care and undergo COVID-19 testing. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on March 18.

Cases #993-995 are three Philippine migrant workers in their 30s. Among the three migrant workers, one is male and the other two are female. They took the same flight to Taiwan for work on March 3. Before completing the quarantine period, they were tested for COVID-19 on March 16. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the cases on March 18.

Case #996 and Case #997 are two Taiwanese women in their 40s. Those two women visited Egypt to attend a funeral on March 5. Case #996 experienced a cough, a sore throat, fatigue and other symptoms from March 10 to March 15, while Case #997 developed a stuffy nose, coughing, and diarrhea from March 13 to March 16. They returned to Taiwan on March 16. As they voluntarily notified airport quarantine officers of their symptoms, they were tested for COVID-19. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the cases on March 18.

Case #998 and Case #999 are two Chinese male sailors in their 30s. The ship where the two sailors worked docked in two ports of Vietnam on January 4 and February 3, respectively. They entered Taiwan on February 8. When Case #954 was confirmed to have COVID-19, the two sailors were placed under home isolation and self-health management because they were identified as close contacts. As they planned to return to China, they took self-paid COVID-19 tests on March 16. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the cases on March 18. They have not experienced any symptoms since arrival.

The CECC reported that a cumulative total of 183,027 cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in Taiwan among which COVID-19 has been ruled out in 180,651. Of these reported cases, infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in 998 cases. Of the 998 confirmed cases, 882 are imported; 77 are indigenous; 36 are naval crew members aboard the Panshi fast combat support ship; 2 are infections on an aircraft; 1 case has unknown sources of infection; and 1 case (Case #530) has been removed (Case #530 is not assigned to any patients). Of the confirmed cases, there have been 10 deaths, and 958 patients have been released from isolation, with the other 30 patients remaining hospitalized in isolation.