The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday raised its travel notice for 19 Asian nations, one Eastern European country and three US states to a level 3 “warning,” saying that travelers from those countries would be quarantined at home for 14 days upon arriving in Taiwan.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, said that most of the recently confirmed cases in Taiwan were all Taiwanese who contracted COVID-19 abroad.
“Responding to the escalating global COVID-19 situation, we are raising the travel notice to a level 3 ‘warning’ — avoid unnecessary travel — for 20 nations and three US states,” he said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
They are: Japan, Singapore, North Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, East Timor, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Moldova, as well as Washington, New York and California in the US, Chen said.
He said that although the travel notice takes effect tomorrow, the quarantine measures would begin immediately.
“Travelers from these countries who have boarded their planes by now [4pm yesterday] would be asked to observe 14 days of self-health management after arriving in Taiwan; those who have not boarded their planes would face a 14-day mandatory home quarantine upon arrival,” he said.
Visa-waiver programs would be suspended for countries or areas that have been issued a level 3 travel notice, Chen said, adding that foreign nationals from those places who need to travel to Taiwan must apply for a visa at the nation’s representative offices.
They would also be quarantined for 14 days upon arriving in Taiwan, he added.
As a level 3 travel notice was issued for Italy earlier this month, followed by 27 European countries on Saturday and 14 Eastern European countries on Monday and yesterday, Chen said the center is tracing people who had recently traveled to Europe and sought medical help for respiratory symptoms or pneumonia after returning home.
Of those who returned from Europe between March 3 and Saturday, 513 people sought treatment for respiratory symptoms and 136 have been tested for COVID-19 — three of whom tested positive — while 426 people would be instructed to undergo testing, he said.
People who returned from Europe during the period should perform self-health management for 14 days, the CECC said, urging students who fit the criteria to avoid school and working people to stay at home.
The next two weeks is a critical observation period and the center expects the number of confirmed cases to increase, Chen said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS