TAIPEI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Another patient infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was confirmed in Taiwan Tuesday, raising the total number to 42, according to the island's epidemic monitoring agency.

File photo: CGTN

The new patient, a woman in her 50s, had been in a hospital to take care of a relative from Feb. 17 to 24 while one of the patients in the same ward was confirmed to have contracted the virus on Feb. 28, the 34th patient in Taiwan, the agency said in a press release.

She has not left Taiwan recently and developed a cough on Feb. 23, the statement said.

The 34th patient, also a woman in her 50s, has been hospitalized since Feb. 14, though without respiratory symptoms in the beginning, and began to develop a cough and fever on Feb. 21.

A cleaner and three nurses of the hospital ward, as well as the 34th patient's daughter, were confirmed to have contracted the virus later.

Two of the three nurses had taken care of the new patient's relative from Feb. 21 to 23, the statement added.

A total of 295 people have been identified as contacts, 206 of whom were cleared, the agency said.

As of Monday, among the confirmed cases in Taiwan, 12 have recovered with one death, while the rest are in stable condition.