The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday raised the travel notice for 42 countries and one area in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and northern Africa to a level 3 “warning,” and reported eight new imported cases of COVID-19.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, said the global COVID-19 pandemic has changed drastically in the past few days, and the eight new cases — raising the nation’s total to 67 — were all people who had just returned to Taiwan.
Case No. 60 traveled on their own to Italy, Greece and Germany; No. 61 visited Austria and the Czech Republic with a tour group; No. 62 visited the Philippines with her family; No. 63 was part of the same tour to Egypt as the 55th case reported on Sunday; and No. 64 studied at the same Spanish school as the 58th case reported on Sunday, he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Cases No. 65 to 67 were on the same 15-person tour to Turkey as the 56th and 57th cases reported on Sunday, he added.
Although the Turkish government has said the nation has very few confirmed cases, that five members of the Taiwanese tour group tested positive after returning home has led the center to suspect that the outbreaks in some places are more serious than their number of reported cases would indicate, he said.
The new level 3 warning covers, in alphabetical order: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
Travelers from these countries would be put under 14-day mandatory home quarantine upon arrival in Taiwan, the center said.
As the pandemic spreads, tightened border controls would be expanded to whole regions, and enhanced border controls on Asian countries would be announced today or tomorrow, Chen said.
He also warned Taiwanese who are still making travel plans.
“We sympathize with the Taiwanese who contracted the virus in other countries, but if people still insist on traveling to certain countries that we have advised them to avoid, we would have to take stricter measures,” he said.
People who travel unnecessarily to countries under a level 3 notice would not be eligible for the government’s home isolation or quarantine subsidy, and if they test positive for the virus, they would have to pay for testing and treatment, and their names would be published, he said.
People who provide false information on Health Declaration and Home Quarantine Notices would also be denied the subsidy and could be fined up to NT$150,000 (US$4,964), Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
People who breach home isolation or quarantine regulations, such as breaking contact with authorities, could be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million under the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法), and their names would be published, Chuang said.
Foreigners from countries under a level 1 or 2 travel notice who are not enrolled in the National Health Insurance system would have to pay for COVID-19 testing and treatment if they test positive, Chen said.
More details of the policy, such as the definition of unnecessary travel or the authority for publishing offenders’ names, would be announced this week, he said.
“A wave of cases imported from other countries is rapidly rising, totaling 44 so far, so we urge people to refrain from unnecessary overseas travel and to protect their health,” Chen said.
“We held firm to block the first wave of infection, but a new wave is coming, so everyone should cooperate with disease prevention efforts,” he added.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao