The “small three links” connecting Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China’s Fujian Province are to be suspended from Monday to safeguard against the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in accordance with instructions from the Central Epidemic Command Center, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday.
It is the second time the nation has suspended the “small three links” for disease prevention reasons under the Regulations Governing the Trial Operation of Transportation Links Between Kinmen/Matsu/Penghu and the Mainland Area (試辦金門馬祖澎湖與大陸地區通航實施辦法) — which gives the Executive Yuan authority to suspend the links in part or in full over safety or other major concerns — after they were halted during the SARS outbreak in 2003.
After the center on Tuesday announced a ban on cruise ships that have docked in ports in China, including Hong Kong and Macau, in the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival in Taiwan, the number of ferries arriving via the “small three links” had declined, averaging 425 and 28 per day in Kinmen and Lienchiang counties respectively from Saturday last week to Wednesday, council statistics showed.
Photo: CNA
The links would be resumed depending on developments in containing the outbreak, it said.
The Lienchiang County Government yesterday implemented a “departure only” policy for residents using the “small three links,” meaning that residents traveling to China would not be allowed re-entry until the links are restored.
In related news, the SuperStar Aquarius cruise ship carrying more than 1,700 Taiwanese passengers is scheduled to dock at the Port of Keelung today after initially being set to arrive last night.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that as more than 40 passengers on the ship had visited China after the outbreak, disease prevention personnel would board after it docks to screen passengers and crew for the disease.
If those who had visited China during their voyage and those who have a fever test negative for the virus, everyone would be allowed to disembark, with instructions to monitor their health for 14 days, Chen said.
However, if anyone tests positive for the virus, all passengers and crew would be quarantined on the ship, he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
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