Three navy personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies after authorities confirmed over the weekend that 24 people who were on the same ship have the virus. While experts are continuing to look for the source of the infection, one medical official says it’s likely that the virus had been circulating on board for some time.
An outbreak of COVID-19 on board a Taiwan navy ship has resulted in 24 new cases confirmed over the weekend. That’s sparked concern of a new wave of infections after Taiwan reported zero new cases on three different days last week.
The ships was one of three boats that left Taiwan on February 21, headed for Palau. The vessels docked in Palau between March 12 and March 15. It wasn’t until after the ships returned to Taiwan on April 9 that the first person on board began to exhibit symptoms.
Of the 24 confirmed cases, 18 had no symptoms at all. All 744 people that were on the ships are now under quarantine.
The head of the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, Huang Li-ming , says that it could take five days to infect someone with COVID-19. The ship was at sea for 30 days, meaning that the chain of infection could be six people long. Best case scenario is that the chain is 2-3 people long.
Moving forward, experts are suggesting antibody testing as a way of tracking down the original source of infection. That’s because some people may have already purged the virus, so the only trace of the infection would be the antibodies in their blood.
So far, three people that were on board who tested negative for the virus have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. All reported having a mild fever between March 21-26. Officials say that the presence of antibodies suggests that the three navy personnel had the virus earlier but were probably infected after boarding the ship.
The CECC is now saying that the 24 confirmed cases aboard the navy ship are likely to be part of a second wave of infections.