On December 20, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced three new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Taiwan. Among those three new cases, two (Case #765 and Case #766) are colleagues of Case #760 announced on December 15, and the other one, a sailor, arrived in Taiwan from Indonesia.

Case #765 is an over 60-year-old man from New Zealand. He flew to the United States on November 29 and returned to Taiwan on December 4. The New Zealand man was on the same flight to the United States as Case #760 on December 12 and experienced coughing during the flight. After returning to Taiwan on December 15, the man underwent home quarantine. COVID-19 testing was arranged for him as a contact of Case #760 on December 18. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on December 20. He tested positive for antibodies.

Case #766 is an over 20-year-old man from Japan. He flew to the United States on December 5 and returned to Taiwan on December 7. The Japanese man was on the same flight to the United States as Case #760 on December 12. After returning to Taiwan on December 15, the Japanese man underwent home quarantine. COVID-19 testing was arranged for him as a contact of Case #760 on December 18. He informed the health authority that he had experienced coughing on December 17 and suffered from mild diarrhea on December 19. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on December 20. The Japanese man tested negative for antibodies.

The CECC pointed out that Case #760, Case #765, and Case #766 had worked on the same flight on December 12, spent a significant period of time on the enclosed space, and been exposed to one another without protective equipment on during drinking and dining. Furthermore, Case #765 had shown symptoms on the flight. Thus, the related investigation suggested Case #760 and Case #766 were infected by Case #765 during the flight, and this is an incident of infection on an aircraft.

Case #767 is an over 40-year-old man from Indonesia. The Indonesian man traveled to Taiwan to work on December 3. He hasn't experienced any symptoms since arrival. After completing the quarantine period on December 18, the shipping company he worked for arranged for him to take a COVID-19 test. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on December 20.

The CECC reported that a cumulative total of 119,405 cases related to COVID-19 have been reported in Taiwan among which COVID-19 has been ruled out in 117,361. Of these reported cases, infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in 766 cases. Of the 766 confirmed cases, 672 are imported; 55 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 627 patients have been released from isolation, with the other 132 patients remaining hospitalized in isolation.