One more imported case as debate grows over universal testing at border

Turning now to coronavirus cases in Taiwan: one new imported case was announced Thursday. The man, in his 60s, returned to Taiwan after a prolonged period of working in South Africa. He shared a car to the South African airport with two fellow passengers who subsequently tested positive in Taiwan. Meanwhile, tests on the contacts of two infected engineers are ongoing, but so far, all have come out negative. Calls for universal border testing are growing, but leading expert Dr. Lee Ping-ing says the policy would be costly and ineffective.

The latest patient, in his 60s, developed stomach problems and muscle pains while in quarantine, before testing positive. He flew back to Taiwan on July 25, on the same plane as patients #460 and #461. He wasn’t sitting near them, but they were neighbors in South Africa and shared a ride to the airport – a likely source of the cluster, say officials.

Chuang Jen-hsiang
Central Epidemic Command Center
On that day, the patient’s son drove the three patients to the airport, in one car. The ride took about 40 minutes. It’s not certain whether he wore a mask in the vehicle.

Tests continue on the contacts of foreign national engineers who are believed to have caught COVID-19 in Taiwan. All 462 contacts of the Belgian patient have tested negative, but 77 contacts of the Japanese individual are still to get the all-clear. Meanwhile, a Taiwanese woman in her 50s has tested positive in Hong Kong. She was declared negative on entry on July 27, and flouted quarantine rules, before a second test on Aug. 2 showed she had the virus. An investigation of her case has begun within Taiwan.

Chuang Jen-hsiang
Central Epidemic Command Center
Hong Kong has provisionally classed her as a local case. Of course we will also trace and test her contacts here.

With the pandemic continuing to mutate, calls for universal screenings are growing. But Dr. Lee Ping-ing, a consultant to the Central Epidemic Command Center, is set against the idea.

Lee Ping-ing
Central Epidemic Command Center
If you screen all the entries at the border, it will cost NT$4.2 million a day. Such a measure will mean public health authorities are hemorrhaging money. But it will lead to the virus spreading – because people with a long incubation period will still not be caught, but you will shorten the quarantine, and then that will lead to cases getting out. I am 200% opposed to this idea.

Lee is convinced the cost of universal border tests is prohibitive, and even more so for universal tests across the population. A quarantine of 14 days is the most reliable and cost-effective policy, he says.

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