Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/22/2020
By: Matt Yu, Wang Cheng-chung, Chen Yun-yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) The former commander of a Navy flotilla on which a cluster of COVID-19 coronavirus infections has occurred admitted to lawmakers on Wednesday that he did not report back to his superiors all the fever cases aboard his ships during their month-long cruise as required.

Rear Admiral Chen Tao-hui (陳道輝), former head of the Republic of China Navy's Friendship Fleet, however, defended the decision, saying that that he did not do so because the medical officer had already ruled that many of the cases were common colds and not suspected COVID-19 cases.

He therefore decided to continue to carry out the goodwill mission to Palau, one of the nation's Pacific allies.

Chen insisted that he would have never deliberately concealed information if he knew there were suspected COVID-19 patients aboard the three-ship flotilla that visited Palau from March 12-15.