Taiwan navy under fire for letting sailors infected with coronavirus into community

Taiwan’s navy has come under fire over its handling of a cluster coronavirus infection that has hit one of its naval ships and could seriously damage the island’s efforts to contain the outbreak.

At least 27 of the 377 military personnel aboard the Panshih fast combat support ship have been confirmed as infected with the coronavirus in the first cases of the pandemic to hit the self-ruled island’s military.

The Panshih was part of a three-ship flotilla assigned by the navy to a friendship port call to the Pacific island state of Palau – one of Taiwan’s 15 allies – between March 5 and April 9.

Critics said that after completing the mission and quarantine, the officers and sailors visited at least 90 places in more than 10 cities and counties throughout Taiwan before being recalled for testing on Saturday.

The ships stopped at Palau from March 12 to 15 for the military’s annual goodwill and midshipmen training mission. The Panshih returned to its home port in Zuoying district in Kaohsiung on April 9, but personnel on the vessel – including cadets and naval students – could not disembark until April 15 because of the local quarantine requirement.

On Saturday, three days after disembarking, the 744 sailors from the three ships were recalled to have Covid-19 tests because 24 of their colleagues had tested positive for the deadly virus.

The Central Epidemic Command Centre first reported three infections from the Panshih on Saturday, and 21 more from the same ship the next day. Three more cases have since been detected.

In a legislature meeting on April 15, the navy was questioned by lawmakers over whether those personnel were healthy during their mission. Navy chief of staff Ao Yi-chih replied: “There was no [health issue].”

He said the Panshih personnel had had health checks the day before they disembarked and naval authorities saw no issue with them taking leave.

When asked by lawmakers at a regular parliamentary meeting on Monday how many military personnel consulted ship doctors on the Panshih during the 45-day mission, the navy presented records showing that 70 officers and sailors had done so and five of them had a fever.

But on Monday night, more than 12 hours after the parliamentary meeting, the navy changed the record to 148, of which five had a fever and 10 had respiratory problems.

“It seems the military has a serious lapse in dealing with crisis,” said Wu Sz-huai, a legislator from the opposition Kuomintang.

“It was written down clearly how many people had developed a fever and other symptoms but apparently the military has failed to check the fact first before giving the answers and only offers the answers bit by bit, like squeezing toothpaste.”

Tainan mayor Huang Wei-che said: “What’s wrong with the military? It’s supposed to observe strict discipline and order.

“How come they keep changing their words? ... The military is supposed to safeguard the country and the people and I greatly regret that they have become a loophole in our anti-pandemic efforts.”

He said Taiwan had been doing well in containing the pandemic, and it would be a great waste if its efforts “are ruined by the navy”.

Taiwan has won recognition from many countries for its initial success in controlling the new coronavirus, which was first detected in central mainland city of Wuhan in January.

As of Tuesday, Taiwan had 425 confirmed cases and six deaths from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Wang Ting-yu said he would initiate an investigation into the issue and question the navy over its improper handling of the case during a legislature meeting on Wednesday.