Taiwan to quarantine 700 sailors after Palau visit
The Taiwanese Navy is placing 700 of its sailors into quarantine after 24 of them tested positive for coronavirus following a visit to the Pacific island of Palau.
This is the first confirmed case of the virus infecting serving military personnel and the country has successfully kept cases low with just 398 cases and six deaths reported to date.
The three cases shared quarters on one of three Panshih-class fast combat support ships which took part in the goodwill trip in mid-March 2020. The 700 sailors, however, comprise the crews of all three ships.
Palau is one of only 15 nations to maintain formal diplomatic ties with the country after other states have sided with China over a long-running dispute over the island’s sovereignty.
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