CECC confirms a total of 23 more COVID-19 cases, including 21 imported cases


PublishTime:2020-03-18
On March 18, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced 23 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan, with 21 identified as imported cases (4 cases linked to a tour group to Turkey) and the other 2 classified as indigenous cases (1 case being a contact of cases linked to a travel group to Egypt). The CECC reported that four other members of same tour group to Turkey as Cases #68-70 were among cases confirmed today. The four patients are three females and one male, aged between 20 and 59. Two of the four persons were asymptomatic while the other two developed symptoms on March 11 and March 16, respectively. They tested positive for COVID-19 on March 18 after being reported to health agencies.

With respect to other confirmed cases, ten women and seven men were among the confirmed imported cases announced today. These 17 patients are between 20 and 59 years old, and developed symptoms between February 14 and March 16. These patients have travel history to different countries, including three visiting Spain; three visiting the United States; two visiting the United Kingdom; two visiting France; one visiting Indonesia; one visiting Qatar; one visiting the Philippines; one visiting Switzerland; and one visiting Germany. With respect to the remaining two patients, one of them had traveled to France, Spain and the United Kingdom while the other one had visited the United Kingdom, Italy and France. 

Regarding 2 indigenous cases confirmed today, one of the two patients is an over-20-year-old male, and the other one is an over-20-year-old female. The man in his 20s is a contact of the confirmed cases tied to the travel group to Egypt. The woman in her 20s has no recent travel history, and the source of infection has yet to be identified.