Taipei officials have fined a person NT$1 million (US$33,228) for breaking quarantine, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday.
It was the first time the city has issued the maximum fine for contravening its efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Taiwan.
The person, who was not identified, on Monday arrived from Xiamen, China, and according to Taiwan’s disease-prevention regulations, should have remained under home quarantine until March 23, the Taipei Department of Health said.
Photo: Shen Pei-yao, Taipei Times
The person was arranged to stay at a hotel, as they refused to provide their home address when passing through customs, the department said.
However, city officials and police could not find the person in their hotel room when they visited for a control check on Tuesday, it said.
The person was later found at Kaohsiung International Airport when they tried to purchase an airplane ticket out of Taiwan, the department said.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the health departments in Taipei and Kaohsiung coordinated to have the person escorted to a quarantine center in Kaohsiung, it said.
Over the past two weeks, the Taipei City Government has fined 70 people — 63 of whom were fined NT$10,000, four were fined NT$70,000, and three were fined NT$50,000, NT$60,000 and NT$1 million respectively.
In related news, a woman who arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from the US via Hong Kong on Monday traveled to her home in a regular taxi in contravention of regulations.
People arriving from Hong Kong must not use public transportation and must quarantine themselves at home for 14 days, according to regulations.
The woman initially tried to get on a bus to Tainan, but was turned away by driver after the driver found out that she had arrived from Hong Kong, airport police said.
She had not arranged anyone to pick her up and did not have a vehicle to travel home, police said.
After learning that she must take a designated “disease prevention” taxi or face a fine of between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million, the woman said that she had no money and loitered at the airport for seven hours, during which she removed her mask, they said.
Airport police said they could not fine her, as the rules stipulating punishments for such offenses were to take effect the following day.
Her family offered to pay for the taxi when she arrived home, but the woman refused, police said.
Although a police detail was stationed to watch the woman, and taxi and bus drivers were instructed not to transport her, she managed to board the airport tram to Terminal 1 and took a taxi to Taoyuan’s Nankan District (南崁), where she boarded a bus to Tainan, airport police said.
The incident suggests that the current policies need improvement, they said.
The CDC said that people under home quarantine may take public transportation if they wear a mask, but cannot take public transportation from an airport upon returning from a country or area with an at least level 2 “alert” travel warning, according to Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ disease-prevention rules.
ADEQUATE COVERAGE: New Taipei City, which has more than 9,500 people under home quarantine, said it would add another 450 rooms at its disease prevention hotels The Taipei City Government has added a fourth designated disease prevention hotel, allowing people under 14-day home quarantine to isolate themselves from NT$5,000 per day, it said yesterday. The Taipei Department of Information and Tourism launched the first disease prevention hotel on Feb. 21 to accommodate travelers without a place to stay during mandatory home isolation or quarantine, and for people who want to separate themselves from their family members or roommates during quarantine. The department said that as of yesterday, more than 120 travelers have stayed at one of the city’s three disease prevention hotels, and their 178 rooms are nearly
MISINFORMATION: The 100,000 masks given to ally Paraguay were bought in other Latin American nations, not made in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan has not yet reached a point where it can export masks to diplomatic allies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, dismissing as misinformation online reports that it gave away masks to curry favor with a diplomatic ally. “Taiwan provides med-ical aid to diplomatic allies based upon specific circumstances,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said, adding that the supplements donated by Taiwan were all purchased locally in allied countries, in accordance with their needs. “The time is not yet ripe” for Taiwan to export medical supplies, such as surgical masks, to diplomatic allies, until
An improvised protective device for use when intubating patients designed by Taiwanese doctor Lai Hsien-yung (賴賢勇) is being adopted in the Philippines to help doctors there stay safe amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. “We made this acrylic aerosol box for my sister Dra. Frances Legaspi for Antipolo Doctors Hospital. Credits to Dr Lai Hsien-yung for the concept and design,” Anton Legaspi, whose family owns a business that makes customized designs, said on Facebook on Monday. The hospital is in Antipolo, about 25km east of Manila. Legaspi’s post was accompanied by several photographs of the box and a short demonstration video
All state-run columbariums must strictly regulate how many visitors they host during Tomb Sweeping Day on Saturday next week to curb the spread of COVID-19, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday. Hou asked people to use online worshipping services instead. Electronic “tomb sweeping” systems, which display a virtual altar for people to make offerings and say prayers, can reduce crowd sizes at columbariums, Hou said during a site visit to Shulin Life Memorial Hall (樹林生命紀念館), a columbarium in the city’s Shulin Disrict (樹林). Measures for admission control would be strictly implemented in state-run columbariums, Hou said, pointing to the Shulin
RSS