Novel coronavirus cases in Taiwan rise to 16

Taiwan confirmed a further three cases of the novel coronavirus infection, raising its total confirmed cases to 16, the island's epidemic monitoring agency said Thursday.

The three new cases were all imported but not from central China's Wuhan city, the center of the epidemic, according to the agency at a press conference.

The new cases included a couple in their 50s living in northern Taiwan, who had flown to Italy via Hong Kong on Jan. 22 and returned to Taiwan on Feb. 1 also via Hong Kong, according to the agency.

The couple had a cough on Jan. 26 and 28. The husband had fever on the day they returned to Taiwan and showed infection symptoms on Feb. 4. The wife did not have fever when seeing the doctor on Feb. 3 but was treated as a suspected case due to her husband's condition.

The third case was a woman in her 40s living in southern Taiwan who had visited Macao from Jan. 21 to 24 and showed symptoms of fever and throat irritation on Feb. 1. She is in stable condition, the agency said.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, the island had 125 suspected cases under quarantine.