On January 17, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced one new confirmed indigenous case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan. The new case, Case #856, is a Taiwanese man in his 30s and is a doctor working at the same hospital as Case #838. This doctor came into contact with Case #838 at work on January 10 and tested negative on January 11. As Case #852 later tested positive, the health authority tested 256 medical workers identified as the contacts of Case #838 and Case #839 again on January 16. Among those who were given a second test, Case #856 tested positive on January 17; of the remaining 264 medical workers, 224 tested negative, and the remaining 40 are awaiting test results.

The CECC reported that a cumulative total of 137,062 cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in Taiwan among which COVID-19 has been ruled out in 134,711. Of these reported cases, infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in 855 cases. Of the 855 confirmed cases, 756 are imported; 60 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 7 deaths, and 755 patients have been released from isolation, with the other 93 patients remaining hospitalized in isolation.