Taiwan records its first locally transmitted Covid-19 case in 253 days after woman catches it from a New Zealand pilot friend
- Taiwan has not had a locally transmitted case of Covid-19 since mid-April
- Woman in her 30s tested positive Tuesday, after being infected by a pilot
- New Zealand pilot was infected after flying to the US, then returning to Taiwan
- Authorities are now testing more than 100 contacts of the unnamed woman
Taiwan has reported its first locally transmitted case of Covid-19 since April after the friend of an infected New Zealand tested positive this week.
Authorities are now testing more than 100 contacts of the friend, a woman in her 30s, the health minister said on Tuesday.
Taiwan cracked down on the pandemic with rapid testing, quarantine measures, contact tracing and mask-wearing, which has seen infection rates remain low.
But despite closing its borders to tourists and insisting all arrivals test negative for the virus, imported cases have been on the rise in recent weeks – particularly among those coming from infection hotspots.
The New Zealand pilot tested positive in Taiwan on Sunday after flying a route to the US, before the woman tested positive on Tuesday.
![Taiwan has reported its first locally transmitted case of COVID-19 since April 12 - a friend of a New Zealand pilot who was confirmed to have been infected earlier this week. Authorities are now testing more than 100 contacts of the friend, a woman in her 30s, the health minister said on Tuesday [File photo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/12/22/12/37144318-9078905-image-a-4_1608638981202.jpg)
Taiwan has reported its first locally transmitted case of COVID-19 since April 12 – a friend of a New Zealand pilot who was confirmed to have been infected earlier this week. Authorities are now testing more than 100 contacts of the friend, a woman in her 30s, the health minister said on Tuesday [File photo]
Chen said the New Zealand national had not correctly reported all his contacts and list of places he had been, and may be in breach of Taiwan’s communicable diseases law.
Under Article 62 of the law, anyone who knows they have been infected with certain communicable diseases and infects others by not complying with instructions can be issued with fines of NT $500,000 (£13,266.32) and face up to three years in prison.
The government has published a list of places he went in and around Taipei and told people who may have been there to monitor their health.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the New Zealand pilot confirmed as infected earlier this week had not correctly reported all his contacts and list of places he had been, and may be in breach of Taiwan’s communicable diseases law. Pictured: Chen during an interview with AFP news agency in May 2017
It is testing 167 people who have had direct contact with the new locally transmitted case.
Taiwan tech firm Quanta Storage Inc said the woman was an employee at a subsidiary, and that contacts who had been tested so far had come back negative for the virus.
Taiwan has reported a total of 771 cases – mostly imported – and seven deaths – since the pandemic began in March.
Around 130 people remain in hospital for treatment.
Separately, Taiwan is among dozens of territories and countries restricting travel to the United Kingdom after a highly infectious new coronavirus strain was found in the country.
The government said it would halve the number of flights to the United Kingdom, to just one a week.
Those arriving in Taiwan from Britain, or who have been in Britain within the last 14 days, will also have to quarantine for 14 days in centralised quarantine facilities.