Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday (April 30) announced there were no new local cases of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) for a record 18th day in a row.
During his daily press conference on Thursday afternoon, Chen announced no new cases of the virus. This marks the 18th day the country has not reported a local case and the first time that zero cases (either imported or domestic) have been reported five days in a row.
Chen said that of the 31 sailors in the "Goodwill Fleet" (敦睦, Dunmu) cluster, 1,996 contacts have been traced by the health department. Among those, 585 are undergoing home isolation, while 1,411 have implemented self-health management.
Thus far, 480 of these contacts have been tested for the virus, 465 of whom have tested negative. Since the outbreak began, Taiwan has carried out 62,844 tests for COVID-19, with 61,354 coming back negative.
Out of Taiwan's 429 total cases, 343 were imported, 55 were local, and 31 came from the Goodwill Fleet. Up until now, only six have succumbed to the disease, while 322 have been released from hospital isolation.
In what has become a pattern of rapidly diminishing cases, Taiwan on April 14 announced that it had no new coronavirus cases to report for the first time in 36 days. The vast majority of cases reported over this period had been imported from other countries as Taiwanese citizens fled from hotspots in Europe, Asia, and North America.
There were fears these imported cases would bring a second wave of domestic infections to the country. Fortunately, it appears the CECC's efforts at quickly identifying, isolating, and tracing contacts of confirmed cases have kept the virus at bay for now.
Chen pointed out that if studies found the antibodies unable to have a certain effect against the virus, it would have an impact on vaccine research and development. If a vaccine is not effective, then the epidemic would inevitably recur in the autumn and winter, warned Chen.
Those who feel unwell are advised to call the toll-free disease prevention hotline at 1922. The CECC also recommends that when seeking medical attention, patients should proactively inform doctors of their travel history and every person they have recently come into contact with.
Source: Taiwan News
