The Panshih navy cluster infection was not related to its stop in Palau. That’s the word from Central Epidemic Command Center Director Chen Shih-chung as he gave a report on the navy cluster infection on Tuesday.
Chen said the Panshih navy ship had 36 COVID-19 cases and 32 have already recovered. The other 4 are still being treated in the hospital.
Of the 36 cases, 11 are asymptomatic. Of the 8 suspected cases who have antibodies, 3 are asymptomatic. Officials believe there were 4 waves of infections on the Panshih with the first one starting on March 10. That was before the ship docked in Palau.
Chen said the ship docked in Palau from March 12 to15. All of the viruses were the same, so officials believe they were of the same origin and that the Panshih outbreak began on March 10. The virus did not spread to Palau.
The Panshih ship had 377 people on it. The infection rate was 11.7% which is lower than other ship cluster infections. Chen said the lower rate might be due to the policy of wearing masks and the isolation of those with symptoms. After explaining the details of the Panshih case on Tuesday, he officially declared the case closed.