Taiwan confirms one case of the coronavirus

Taiwan's Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-Chung on Tuesday confirmed a diagnosed case of the coronavirus in a Taiwanese businesswoman. The woman in her fifties, who works in the education industry, flew back to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holidays on a flight from Wuhan City in China on Monday evening.

Chen said 46 people were on the flight, comprising 12 crew members and 34 passengers.

Besides the confirmed Wuhan fever case, all the other members of the flight had been placed under self-confinement to prevent the disease from spreading, Chen said.

These measures include staying home, wearing a facemask when they go out and avoiding crowded places.

They have not been confined by authorities but are staying in close contact with them should they begin feeling unwell.

According to the CDC, the businesswoman had been in Wuhan since December.

She started to feel unwell at the beginning of January but declined to visit hospitals in Wuhan because she had no confidence in Chinese hospitals.

Face masks sold out and temperature checks at airports and train stations became the new norm as China strove Tuesday to control the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has reached four other countries and territories and threatens to spread further during the Lunar New Year travel rush.

Anxiety grew both at home and abroad after a Chinese government expert confirmed fears on state television late Monday that the virus can spread from human to human.

Six people have died and 291 have been infected in China, the National Health Commission said Tuesday.

The stock prices of some companies that sell masks rose Tuesday, but markets fell in much of Asia as investors worried about the potential impact on tourism and the economy.