Taiwan reports first local coronavirus case in eight months
- Woman tests positive after contact with a New Zealand cargo pilot in Taipei
- Two other pilots in contact with the New Zealander also confirmed with the disease
“The local infection involves a woman in her 30s,” Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said.
The woman was a close contact of a New Zealand cargo plane pilot who worked for a Taiwanese carrier and is thought to have been infected during his flight operations in the United States last month.
The pilot tested positive for the virus on Friday and the woman on Tuesday.
Chen said the pilot, in his 60s, went with the woman in two department stores in Taipei and a hypermarket near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport between December 7 and December 12.
When asked about his activities on the island, the pilot told health officials he did not recall where he had visited or whom he had been in contact with during his stay in Taiwan.
But the woman said she accompanied him to the three places between those dates, Chen said.
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The case is the first local infection in 253 days, with Taiwan last reporting a local infection in April, according to the Central Epidemic Command Centre.
Chuang Jen-hsiang, deputy director general of Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control, said two other pilots who worked with the New Zealander, a Taiwanese woman and a Japanese man, were also infected.
Chuang said the New Zealand pilot, who did not wear a mask for most of the flying time, might have contracted the virus late last month after flying to the US.
He said the Taiwanese pilot flew with her New Zealand colleague on December 4 and December 12, while the Japanese pilot was with the other two on cargo flight duty to the United States on December 12.
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Chuang said the centre had traced the contacts of the three pilots and conducted Covid-19 tests. In all, four people, including the three pilots, had tested positive so far.
He urged people who visited the three places between December 7 and December 12 to report immediately to the authorities if they develop symptoms of the disease.
He said the New Zealand pilot could be fined up to NT$300,000 (US$10,650) for lying about his contact history.
Taiwan has 770 cases with just seven deaths and 632 recovered, thanks to its early response and strict border controls.
