TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday (Jan. 21) announced the first confirmed imported case of Wuhan coronavirus in Taiwan.

In a press release issued on Tuesday evening, the CDC announced that a woman in her 50s from southern Taiwan has indeed contracted a new virus that has broken out in China, 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-CoV).

The woman had flown in from Wuhan, China, on Monday (Jan. 20), and because she was exhibiting telltale symptoms of the disease, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath, airport quarantine personnel dispatched her to the isolation ward of a hospital for medical treatment.

A chest X-ray showed that she had pneumonia, and the results of a test for 2019-CoV came back positive on Tuesday. She is currently undergoing treatment in the isolation ward, and the CDC emphasized that she had been immediately sent to the hospital upon arrival in Taiwan and called on the public not to panic.

According to the CDC's epidemic response command center, the hospital and local health departments have carried out epidemic prevention and control work, such as notifications, sampling, isolation treatment, epidemic investigations, and following up with 46 passengers who were in close proximity to the patient on the plane.

The CDC has also reported the positive test results to the World Health Organization (WHO) and authorities in China in accordance with International Health Regulations (IHR).

The center said that the patient is 55 years old, was working in Wuhan, and had a history of endocrine disease. She had never been to the live animal market where the disease was first identified.

On Jan. 11, she developed a fever, sore throat, and cough. Because she did not have confidence in local Chinese medical treatment, she chose instead to fly to Taiwan on Jan. 20, nine days after she began developing symptoms.

While on the flight back to Taiwan, the woman followed instructions and wore a mask throughout the trip. Upon landing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, quarantine personnel transferred her to an isolation ward, where she received oxygen and was conversant with staff.

Despite the confirmed case of the disease, the CDC is maintaining its infectious disease alert at Level 3. The center said it has not yet raised the alert level because the patient was taken directly to a hospital and did not enter the community.