Taiwan on Monday reported two imported COVID-19 cases from Palau, the first from that country, where the number of cases has been rising in recent weeks, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said the two patients are a woman and her young child, both residents of the Pacific island nation, who arrived in Taiwan on Jan. 22.
The two cases, the first imported ones Taiwan has recorded from Palau, were among 36 imported infections confirmed Monday, according to the CECC.
The woman, a Chinese national in her 30s who is married to a Taiwanese man, tested positive, along with her child, aged under 5, while they were in quarantine, the CECC said.
Palau, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, was one of the few countries in the world that remained COVID-free for more than a year after the pandemic started, recording its first case only in August 2021.
Over the past weeks, however, the number of COVID-19 cases in the Pacific island country has been rising sharply and has now reached 208, according to government data.
As a result, Chen said, the CECC is considering suspending a travel bubble between Taiwan and Palau and will make a decision soon, based on the domestic case numbers there in the next few weeks.
Taiwan has already tightened its health protocols for travelers arriving from Palau under the travel bubble, to include mandatory quarantine and increased testing, with effect from Jan. 22.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday that a batch of medical supplies, donated by the public and private sectors in Taiwan to help Palau battle the COVID-19 outbreak, has been delivered.
The supplies, which arrived in Palau on Jan. 22, included 72,500 surgical face masks and 500 rapid coronavirus test kits donated by the Taiwan government, MOFA said in press release.
Part of the shipment was a donation from Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, which included 10,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits, 200 PCR test kits, 65 fingertip pulse oximeters, and 2,000 N95 face masks, MOFA said.
Rapid antigen test kits were also donated by TaiDoc Technology, while Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital sent a supply of medical needle sets, MOFA said.
Shin Kong hospital has also sent its chief epidemiologist Huang Chien-hsien (黃建賢) and three other medical personnel to Palau to assist with the COVID-19 control efforts there, according to MOFA.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel