On December 16, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced seven new confirmed imported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan. Among those seven cases (Cases #744-750), two arrived in Taiwan from the Philippines, four traveled from Russia, and one arrived from the United States.

Case #744 is an over 20-year-old male migrant worker from the Philippines. The Filipino migrant worker traveled to Taiwan to work on December 1. After entry, the male migrant worker stayed at a group quarantine facility, and he hasn't shown any symptoms since arrival. He was tested for COVID-19 before completing the quarantine period. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on December 16.

Cases #745-748 are members of an art performing group from Russia. Among those four cases, two are women and the other two are men, with their ages ranging from 20 to 70 years old. They arrived in Taiwan on November 29. After completing the quarantine period on December 14, the inviting company arranged for them to take self-paid COVID-19 tests. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the cases on December 16.

Case #749 is an over 20-year-old male fishing boat worker from the Philippines. The fisherman came to Taiwan for work on November 29. He hasn't developed any symptoms. After completing the quarantine period on December 14, his employment agency arranged for him to take a self-paid test. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on December 16.

Case #750 is a Taiwanese man in his 40s. The man traveled to the United States to visit relatives in March and returned to Taiwan on December 8. He developed an abnormal sense of smell and taste on December 13. Thus, the health authority arranged his medical care and COVID-19 test. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on December 16.

The CECC reported that a cumulative total of 117,034 cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in Taiwan among which COVID-19 has been ruled out in 115,012. Of these reported cases, infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in 749 cases. Of the 749 confirmed cases, 657 are imported; 55 are indigenous; 36 are naval crew members aboard the Panshi fast combat support ship; 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 612 patients have been released from isolation, with the other 130 patients remaining hospitalized in isolation.