TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that out of the 23 new cases of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) announced on Wednesday (March 18), a young Taiwanese woman's diagnosis is the most perplexing as she had no recent history of travel or known contact with previous cases.

During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon (March 18), Chen announced that 21 of the new cases had traveled to Asia, Europe, or the U.S. and that two had contracted the disease in Taiwan. However, he said that one of the domestic cases had no recent history of travel outside the country.

Chen said that one woman in her 20s sought treatment on March 12, had no history of recent travel, and "lived a simple life." The expert epidemiologist said her case is the most worrying, as they do not know how she contracted the disease.

Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), convener of the command center, said that the woman began to develop a sore throat, fever, and cough on March 12. He said that she sought treatment at a clinic and was prescribed medication, but the symptoms did not improve.

He said that when she returned to the clinic on March 16, she still had a fever. On March 17, she went to the emergency room of a hospital in southern Taiwan.

When doctors learned that she had experienced a fever for nearly a week, they became suspicious. However, after she underwent a chest X-ray, they did not see any signs of pneumonia.

Doctors then decided to test the woman for COVID-19, and the result was positive.