Taiwan has reported two new imported cases of COVID-19. That brings the country’s total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 935.
The first of the two new patients is a Taiwanese man in his sixties. The man began experiencing symptoms while in Myanmar on December 24 and received treatment for COVID-19 at a local hospital. He left hospital on January 27 after his condition improved, but then once more began to experience breathing difficulties. The patient arrived in Taiwan on Sunday on a specially chartered medical plane, and travelled directly to a quarantine facility. Doctors confirmed his infection with COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Authorities say the patient is in a serious condition. He needs a respirator to breathe and his CT value is 23. That means that the patient is carrying a large amount of the virus and is still infectious. Authorities do not know why the patient’s viral load is still so high, since almost a month and a half has passed since he received a positive test result in Myanmar. Doctors think it is unlikely that he contracted two separate COVID-19 infections in such a short period of time.
The second of the two new patients is an Indonesian man in his forties. He arrived in Taiwan on January 24. The patient took a test at his own expense after completing the mandatory two-week quarantine period. Authorities confirmed the positive result on Wednesday.