The foreign ministry says that an employee at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India is on a flight back to Taiwan for urgent COVID-19 treatment. The news on Friday comes after the de-facto embassy reported two new cases of the disease on Monday.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Joanne Ou says that local doctors referred one of the two infected center personnel for further treatment after conducting an assessment of their condition. She says that the center immediately applied for a chartered evacuation flight from insurance providers. Ou says that the flight will land at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening.
Ou says the foreign ministry is ready to provide support to its diplomatic staff abroad. She says this includes coordinating emergency charter flights with insurance companies if necessary. Ou says that for personnel with milder COVID-19 symptoms, the foreign ministry organizes online appointments with Taiwanese doctors as well as local medical care.
Ou says the ministry is grateful to the Central Epidemic Command Center, the health ministry, the recipient hospital, and other officials for helping at such short notice. She says the ministry wishes all affected personnel a speedy recovery.