Taiwanese traveling to Russia should beware of local quarantine measures against COVID-19, as four Taiwanese were forcibly quarantined for wearing masks and mistaken for Chinese, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
After confirming two Chinese citizens in the country were infected with the disease, Russia on Thursday last week implemented a temporary travel ban on Chinese traveling to the country for private, educational, labor and tourist purposes.
Holders of business and humanitarian visas are exempt from the ban.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The measure does not apply to Taiwanese, but Asians might be required by police at street checkpoints to fill in health and residential information forms, or be sent to hospitals for detailed checks, the Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission said.
Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday told a news briefing in Taipei that Taiwanese traveling to Russia should be careful about local preventive measures against COVID-19.
Two Taiwanese tourists were quarantined in a hospital by the Moscow Municipal Government initially because they wore masks and were mistaken for Chinese, Ou said.
Later they developed a fever, but it has not been confirmed what disease they had contracted, said Ou, adding that they are still under quarantine.
The other two Taiwanese were stopped on the street and told to go for a health check at a hospital, but were later allowed to return to their hotel for self-quarantine, she said.
Ministry officials in Moscow and Taipei have contacted the four people and their families, but have not yet been allowed to visit the two in hospital, she said.
A few weeks ago, the ministry received reports about Taiwanese experiencing physical and verbal abuse in Moscow after being mistaken for Chinese, she added.
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