On March 20, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced 27 new confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with 24 being imported and the other 3 being indigenous. A total of 135 cases have been confirmed in Taiwan as of writing. With respect to new imported cases, the patients are between 10 and 89 years old. They arrived in Taiwan between March 6 and March 18 and displayed symptoms between March 5 and March 18. The countries these patients had traveled to include the United States, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Singapore, Austria, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Turkey. Eight of the patients have travel history to multiple countries.
Cases #124, #130 and #134 are classified as indigenous cases. Case #124 is a man in his 30s without recent travel history. He developed symptoms on March 17, and was reported to health agencies after seeking medical attention by himself on March 18. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on March 20. Case #130 is a classmate of Case #59 and tested positive for COVID-19 today. Case #130 is the third person from Case #59’s class to be diagnosed with COVID-19. Their school will stay closed for a week, from March 20 to March 27. Case #134 has no recent travel history, and developed symptoms on March 17. He then sought medical attention on his own and was reported to health agencies. Infection with COVID-19 was laboratory-confirmed in the case on March 20. Health agencies will continue to trace related contacts of these cases.