A total of 327 passengers and crew members on China Airlines flight CI011 have been placed in home quarantine after 9 passengers tested positive for COVID-19.
China Airlines is Taiwan’s flag carrier.
A China Airlines flight carrying 336 people, including 13 crew members, returned to Taiwan from New York on March 30. Of them, 9 passengers were confirmed with contracting the novel coronavirus.
On Monday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung ordered the rest of the 327 people on board to self-isolate at home. The move came as health authorities are concerned that there could be more unknown cases.
Central Epidemic Command Center spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang says it remains unclear how people got infected with COVID-19 though it’s possible that the confirmed cases contracted the virus while in New York.
Dr. Huang Li-min, a specialist in infectious diseases, says the virus could be transmitted to others via droplets and particularly through contact. That’s because everyone uses the toilet on the plane The bathroom is the place Dr. Huang says is the most dangerous as it can spread the disease easily.