And the cold weather has caused a growing number of people to fall victim to the flu. A sixty-year-old Taiwanese lady contracted the disease while traveling abroad during the Chinese New Year, and she was sent back to Taiwan over the weekend on a chartered medical flight due to severe conditions, making her the first local patient to be sent back this way because of the flu.

A 60-year-old female traveled to Singapore but came down with symptoms of fever and fatigue. Her condition worsened and was diagnosed as having an acute influenza with the need for tubes and machine to help her breath.

On Monday morning, the patient returned to Taiwan via a medical chartered flight, which is also the first case of someone chartering a flight to return from overseas because of influlenza.

For anyone who is abroad and needs medical attention, they can contact their own insurance company for assistance in getting a chartered medical flight back to Taiwan, however, the cost would be NT$1.5 million, which the patient must pay for out of their own pocket.

Medical charter flight companies pointed out that 80% of those customers would have their insurance companies pay for the charter cost, however, as a reminder, though some insurance companies offers medical insurance or travel insurance with coverage of medical charter flight, the percentage of the coverage would vary, with some only would arrange for the flight and not covering the cost.

Therefore, it is important to read the fine prints before purchasing any insurance plan