Taiwan on Thursday reported 16 new COVID-19 cases, all contracted overseas, and no deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The new cases involved 11 males and five females, including five Taiwanese nationals, six Vietnamese, three Indonesians, and two Philippine nationals, who arrived in Taiwan between Nov. 25 and Dec. 7, the CECC said in a statement.
The individuals ranged in age from their teens to their 50s, and traveled to Taiwan from the United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Spain, and the United Kingdom, according to the CECC.
Among the 11 Southeast Asian nationals, seven are students and four are fishing workers, CECC official Lo Yi-chun (???) said during the CECC’s press briefing.
Four of the 16 new cases tested positive upon arrival in Taiwan, while the others returned a positive test result before the end of a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.
All the new cases had provided the required negative test result before boarding their flight to Taiwan, according to the CECC.
In addition, four of the new cases involved individuals who had previously been treated for COVID-19 between August and November prior to arriving in Taiwan, the CECC said.
During the first nine days of December, Taiwan recorded 103 imported cases of COVID-19, including Thursday’s 16 new cases, with the number of total imported cases rising to 2,060, according to CECC data.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed a total of 16,704 COVID-19 cases, of which 14,426 were domestic infections reported since May 15, when the country first recorded more than 100 cases in a single day.
However, there have only been 123 domestic cases since Aug. 15, as daily domestic case numbers have fallen to mostly single digits or zero since then.
The most recent locally transmitted case in Taiwan was reported on Nov. 4.
As no new deaths have been reported since Nov. 10, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in Taiwan remains at 848, with all but 12 recorded since May 15.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel