On January 5, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced two new confirmed imported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan. Both new cases, Case #817 and Case #818, arrived in Taiwan from the United States.

Case #817 is a Taiwanese woman in her 70s. The woman experienced discomfort in her throat and mild coughing on January 1, 2021, in the United States. She returned to Taiwan on January 3. After arrival, she voluntarily notified airport quarantine officers of her symptoms, and her specimen was collected for COVID-19 testing at the airport. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on January 5.

Case #818 is a Taiwanese woman in her 20s. She experienced a runny nose and stuffy nose in the first half of December 2020 while she was in the United States. She was given three COVID-19 tests, and all of the test results came back negative. The woman later experienced an abnormal sense of smell on January 2. 2021. She returned to Taiwan on January 3. Because she also experienced an abnormal sense of taste, she voluntarily notified airport quarantine officers of her symptom. Her specimen was collected for COVID-19 testing upon arrival. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on January 5.

The CECC reported that a cumulative total of 128,798 cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in Taiwan among which COVID-19 has been ruled out in 126,355. Of these reported cases, infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in 817 cases. Of the 817 confirmed cases, 722 are imported; 56 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 697 patients have been released from isolation, with the other 113 patients remaining hospitalized in isolation.