The Civil Aeronautics Administ-ration (CAA) announced yesterday details of compulsory isolation measures for travelers and aircrew arriving from Hong Kong, Macao, Vietnam, Singapore and Toronto, Canada, as part of the government's efforts to halt the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
The agency's statement set out the details of the Executive Yuan's decision Sunday night to impose isolation measures on all travelers and flight crew from the five areas as of midnight Sunday.
Later yesterday Hsu Kwo-hsiung (
PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Although the World Health Organization yesterday lifted its advisory against travel to Vietnam -- saying that the country has successfully contained SARS -- the Department of Health said yesterday that Vietnam will remain on its list for now.
The CAA said it has informed all related airlines of the isolation measures and asked them to let their passengers know about the measures when they arrive to check-in so people can decide whether they still want to travel to Taiwan.
The CAA said the measures will affect travelers and flight crew differently.
All travelers, whether Taiwanese or foreigners, who are from Hong Kong, Macao, Vietnam, Singapore or Toronto or have been traveling via these areas must be sent to designated hotels for a 10-day isolation after arrival.
However, Taiwanese and Hong Kong citizens are allowed to choose home quarantine instead of a hotel stay.
These people will be given home-quarantine notices, issued by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which they must present to their village or borough wardens, local health departments or employers. They will be put under 10-day home isolation after registering with these agencies.
As for aircrew, all Taiwanese crewmembers must go to the designated hotels upon arrival. They will be allowed to continue serving on flights to the five-affected areas but if they have no subsequent flights scheduled, they must serve a 10-day domestic quarantine.
Foreign crewmembers must go to the designated hotels directly after arrival, although they are allowed to leave the country the following day to continue their flight duties.
According to the CAA, the government will pay for accommodation, food and laundry fees for all travelers and flight crews quarantined in the designated hotels.
A CAA official said as of 2pm yesterday, only seven flights from Hong Kong, Macao or Singapore had arrived at Taiwan.
"Four arrived at the CKS International Airport and three at the Kaohsiung Airport. All of the passengers and aircrew have been quarantined," the official said.
The official said the authorities did not encounter resistance from either travelers or flight crew and that the new measures have not noticeably reduced flights between Taiwan and the five areas.
"Flights between Taiwan and the areas have been decreasing since the outbreak of SARS. The new measures have not caused many flight cancellations," the official said.
Passengers returning to Taiwan under the "small three links" must be quarantined for 10 days.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS