Two Taiwanese Returnees From Hubei Hospitalized

Two Taiwanese nationals recently returned from China’s Hubei province – epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic – have been hospitalized after showing signs of respiratory distress.

The pair, one an adult, the other a young girl, were passengers on a plane that arrived in Taiwan having traveled from Hubei late yesterday evening.

They had been stranded with hundreds of other Taiwanese in China since January 23rd following the start of the outbreak. The region only came out of lockdown on April 8th.

All passengers on the plane, a China Airlines (CAL) charter, were checked for initial signs of the virus after arrival just after 9:00 pm last night.

Full COVID-19 tests will be carried out on those aboard the aircraft and are scheduled to be completed by Wednesday. The aircraft itself will be disinfected.

Both of those identified as having respiratory issues were taken to a hospital in Hsinchu, around 60km to the south west of Taoyuan International Airport for further observation and any required follow-up treatment.

To date hundreds of Taiwanese nationals have been repatriated on special flights delayed due to Chinese government lockdowns in both Hubei Province and the provincial capital Wuhan.

Another flight is expected to depart the Chinese city of Shanghai tonight with around 230 more Taiwanese.

At time of typing, Taiwan has registered 422 cases of the COVID-19 virus with six deaths.

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.