Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/20/2020
By: Kuan Tuan-pin, Chen Wei-ting, Chen Yun-yu, Chen Chi-chung and Ko Lin

Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) A Taiwanese businessman who recently returned from Zhejiang Province in China has been confirmed as the source of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that caused the death of a 61-year-old limousine service driver from central Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Thursday.

The man was found to have come into contact with the victim through his cab service, the day he returned from China on Jan. 22, the CECC said.

Results of two subsequent tests carried out by National Taiwan University Hospital and Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institution, showed Thursday that the man's blood contained the virus' antibody, indicating that at one point in time he was infected, the center explained.

The driver was the 19th confirmed case in Taiwan, and the first to die from COVID-19 in the country last Sunday. He also passed on the virus to four relatives during a family gathering on Jan. 27.
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