After the investigation done by the Central Epidemic Command Center in Taiwan they concluded that the COVID-19 that infected the navy cluster started from Taiwan and not Palau.
According to the CECC Advisor Chang Shen Chwen the earliest detection of the virus was March 10th, which was a few days before the ships entered Palau.
Chang believed that the virus was brought onto the ship before it departed Taiwan on March 5th. The crew that boarded the Panshi Fleet on February 21st were required to stay in the ship until they depart.
However, the crew had the opportunity to get out of the ship on the 28th of February due to it being a Taiwan holiday. Some speculate that’s when the crew got infected with the virus.
After the goodwill events between Taiwan and Palau, the Embassy of Taiwan and other agencies that came into contact with the ship have went through testing for COVID-19 in which the results turned out to be negative.
Chang suggested that only one sailor caught the virus at the time of the Palau visit, however Chang went on to say that the sailor only came into close with other sailors and not Palauan residents.
So far there are 32 sailors that have recovered from COVID-19 and 4 are still being treated in the hospital.