The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced that a ban on medical personnel traveling abroad is to last until June 30 and that tightened access controls would be implemented at hospitals to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak at healthcare facilities.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, on Sunday said that medical personnel would be banned from traveling abroad, but the CECC on Monday clarified that there are different levels to the ban, and that the details and complementary measures would be discussed in a meeting on Tuesday.
“The subject of the ban is all medical personnel, of any department and any position, working in hospitals, but those working in clinics are not included,” Ministry of Health and Welfare Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) told a news conference at the CECC yesterday.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from visiting countries or areas where the center has issued a level 3 “warning” travel advisory for COVID-19 — China, Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea — and they must apply to and gain approval from the ministry if they need to make a visit, he said.
Medical personnel are asked to temporarily avoid travel to countries where a level 2 “alert” or a level 1 “watch” travel advisories have been issued — such as Japan, Singapore, Iran, Italy and Thailand, Shih said, adding that they would have to apply in advance and gain approval from their hospitals before leaving.
The ban went into effect on Sunday and is to last until “June 30, but it might be shortened or extended depending on the COVID-19 epidemic situation,” Shih said. “The prohibition includes layovers in any of these countries or areas.”
Medical personnel who have gained special approval to visit the affected areas must comply with quarantine rules for such areas and would not be allowed to take part in frontline healthcare work for 14 days after returning to Taiwan, he said.
People who have traveled to areas with a level 3 travel advisory in the 14 days prior to their arrival in Taiwan face a 14-day mandatory home quarantine and those arriving from areas with a level 2 or a level 1 travel notice must perform self-health management for 14 days.
Medical personnel who are affected by the travel ban can apply for full compensation for financial losses, such as from canceling flights, under the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例) passed on Tuesday, Shih said.
The meeting on Tuesday with hospital management also concluded that hospitals must step up access controls to prevent COVID-19 transmission, Shih said, adding that the measures are aimed at three types of visitors.
Hospitals are required to make plans to separate the flow of “patients” moving within hospitals, he said.
They should limit visiting hours and the number of visitors — each inpatient can have only two visitors at one time and only one companion, including caretakers — who must register their personal information and travel and contact history with the hospital, he added.
The ministry also set up management guidelines for dispatch workers, including janitors; waste management personnel; security guards; medical gown, bedding rental and laundry service workers; caretakers; and shop employees, Shih said.
The guidelines include requiring dispatch workers to comply with all procedures set by the hospitals; enter and exit through specially arranged routes; and wear a mask when in health facilities, while hospitals should educate outside contractors about disease-prevention measures and ask them to monitor their employees’ health conditions, he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
RSS