February 24, 2020
After Taiwan reported its first confirmed cases, health authorities finally released on Monday the latest tally of Covid-19 cases in each administrative region, with Taipei being the highest.
More than one month after Taiwan reported its first confirmed cases, health authorities finally released on Monday the latest tally of COVID-19 cases in each administrative region, with Taipei being the highest.
An interactive map on the website of Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows the cities and counties where the country’s 28 coronavirus patients currently reside.
Marked in red, the capital city has listed seven cases, the highest number so far.
That is followed by Changhua County and New Taipei, which have five patients each, and then Taichung with four cases.
Kaohsiung and Naitou County each have two cases to date; Taoyuan, Tainan City, and Yilan County stand at one case each.
While the Communicable Disease Control Act mandates that the geographic locations and the total number of patients be made public, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) had previously concealed that information.
When asked if the whereabouts of coronavirus patients should be released, especially those whose source of infection is still unknown, CECC Chief Commander Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) responded rhetorically: “Would that really make (the public) feel at ease?”
To date, the novel coronavirus has infected 28 people in Taiwan, killing one. The source of contagion for three patients is still under investigation.
The latest two, a father (case 27) and his son (case 28), aged around 80 and 50, have had no recent travel history abroad.
According to the CECC, case 27 has a younger son who frequently flies to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus.
How case 26, a middle-aged woman contracted the virus is also unclear. She also has not traveled abroad recently.
Last week, the CECC said that it has rounded up 391 people who came in close contact with case 26 and two of her family members who were also found to have the virus.
Among them 169 have been tested, of which 143 are negative, Chen said. The results for the remaining are pending.