One more contact of airline pilot testing positive in Australia tests positive for COVID-19, and one pilot is found to have COVID-19 after completing quarantine period; CECC investigates source of infection


PublishTime:2021-04-25
On April 25, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced two new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan. Of the two new cases, one (Case #1100) was found to test positive for COVID-19 after the CECC conducted retrospective testing among the contacts linked to the Indonesian pilot testing positive in Australia, while the other case (Case #1101) was found to test positive during his quarantine period. They both are pilots working for the same airline as the Indonesian pilot.

Case #1100 is a Taiwanese male in his 50s who is a cargo pilot at the airline company. He was on duty in the United States between April 13 and April 17, and returned to Taiwan on April 18. After undergoing home quarantine for three days, he took a self-paid test arranged by the airline company on April 21, at the end of his quarantine period. His test result came back negative. On April 22, he was tested for COVID-19 as he was identified as a contact linked to the Indonesian pilot. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on April 25 (the CT value was 36; he tested negative after given another RT-PCR test during hospitalization, and he tested negative for antibodies).

Case #1101 is a Taiwanese male in his 30s who is also the airline company's cargo pilot. He flew to Germany on assignment on April 18, and returned to Taiwan on April 22. On April 24, the airline company arranged for him to undergo testing after he completed his quarantine period. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on April 25 (the CT value was 28; he had a CT value of 34 after given another RT-PCR test during hospitalization, and he tested negative for antibodies).

The CECC reported that a cumulative total of 203,124 cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in Taiwan among which COVID-19 has been ruled out in 201,035. Of these reported cases, infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in 1100 cases. Of the 1100 confirmed cases, 977 are imported; 78 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; 6 cases' sources of infection are being investigated; and 1 case (Case #530) has been removed (Case #530 is not assigned to any patients). Of the confirmed cases, there have been 12 deaths, and 1045 patients have been released from isolation, with the other 43 patients remaining hospitalized in isolation.