Taiwan COVID-19 Numbers Pass 400

The island nation of Palau

Taiwan on Sunday confirmed 22 new cases of COVID-19 in the country to taking the national total past the 400 mark for the first time.

The announcement by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) centered on a “Fleet of Friendship” sent by Taiwan’s naval forces to the island nation of Palau, a diplomatic ally in the Pacific.

A trio of naval vessels, including the Yueh Fei, the Kang Ding, and the supply vessel Panshih were in Palau between March 12th and 15th, before spending almost a month at sea on exercise.

Three of those on board had initially tested positive for COVID-19 upon return, with the remaining 700 naval officers and men all subsequently quarantined and tested before the later infections were announced.

Nationwide, the total of those infected by the virus now stands at 420. To date, six people have died of COVID-19 related causes in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the global battle against the virus continues with almost 2.5 million infections confirmed around the world as of Monday, April 20th, and over 165,000 deaths put down to COVID-19 to date.

Over the weekend, the nation worst affected by the latest coronavirus, the U.S.A, passed the 40,000 death mark from the disease from a total case number of almost 800,000.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.