People returning to Taiwan from Wuhan, China, would be subject to compulsory home confinement for 14 days upon arrival, the Central Epidemic Command Center announced yesterday, as the government stepped up preventive efforts against the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
If they fail to comply, the center would ask police to step in and have them quarantined in designated locations, officials said at a news conference in Taipei.
Previously, only those suspected of having the virus, or who had close contact with a person confirmed as having the disease were subject to compulsory home confinement for 14 days.
Disease prevention personnel will also visit people who have returned from Chinese provinces other than Hubei — whose capital is Wuhan, where the virus was first discovered — and ask them to monitor their health by checking for pneumonia-like symptoms for 14 days, the center said.
These people should remain at home whenever possible, wear a mask if they have to go out, wash their hands frequently, take their temperature and record the places they have visited for 14 days, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
The government has banned all travelers, including students, from Hubei and suspended entry applications from other Chinese provinces, except for people involved in humanitarian work or disease prevention, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said.
It has asked Chinese travelers who have obtained entry permits to delay their trips, he added.
Hospitals in Penghu County late on Saturday received reports of four residents exhibiting pneumonia-like symptoms: an 11-year-old girl, a 38-year-old woman, and her husband and child.
The girl developed a fever and cough after a trip in Suzhou, China, from Jan. 11 to Jan. 18, the Penghu County Government said.
The woman and her family had traveled to Shanghai before returning to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday, it said.
Meanwhile, the National Immigration Agency said that it was suspending landing visas for travelers from China to Kinmen and Matsu via the “small three links.”
The measure took effect yesterday.
At another news conference at 7:40pm yesterday, the center reported another confirmed case of 2019-nCoV, bringing the nation’s total cases to four.
The latest case is a Taiwanese woman in her 50s, who visited Wuhan from Jan. 13 to 15, and on Jan. 16 joined a 10-day group tour to Europe before returning home on Saturday via Guangzhou, China.
The woman had worn a mask during her flights and informed quarantine personnel about her condition upon arriving at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the center said.
However, a woman working at the Jin Bali Grand Ballroom (金芭黎舞廳) who reported pneumonia-like symptoms after coming into contact on Wednesday with a Taiwanese man that was one of two people on Friday confirmed to have 2019n-CoV, tested negative for the virus, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS