TAIPEI, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The total number of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Taiwan has increased by 18 to 153, the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Saturday.
The new patients, 12 women and six men, were believed to have contracted the virus during their trips overseas, including trips to Turkey, the United States, France, Britain, Egypt and South Africa, the agency said in a press release.
In wake of an increasing number of imported cases, the island's authorities will start to test about 3,000 people who have returned from the United States and East Asian countries and saw the doctor from March 8 to 18, the statement said.
They will also be asked to stay home for quarantine, the statement added.
Among the island's confirmed COVID-19 cases, 120 were imported. Twenty-eight of the confirmed patients have recovered, and two died of the disease. The rest are in stable condition.
