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.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
RSS