Authorities in central Taiwan yesterday fined three people for breaching their home quarantine.
Police in Changhua County’s Yuanlin City (員林) questioned a man, surnamed Chen (陳), and his wife, surnamed Hsieh (謝), for contravening their 14-day home quarantine after returning from Europe.
Police said they were tipped off by residents, who saw the couple outdoors. With the help of street surveillance cameras, they were able track the duo down. They found that Chen had driven a car to work, while Hsieh said she went out to buy medical supplies at a drugstore.
“The couple returned to Taiwan from Europe the previous week and, as ordered by health authorities, they were to stay home for 14 days to prevent the spread of the Wuhan virus,” Yuanlin Police Precinct Chief Hung Wen-hung (洪文宏) told reporters.
Hung said the couple was fined NT$300,000 (US$9,893) each for breaching the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Recovery (特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例規定).
People under quarantine should ask relatives or friends for assistance and delivery of essential goods, he added.
In Chiayi, police caught a quarantine breaker by accident at a traffic stop.
Police noticed a man on a motorcycle while he was waiting for the lights to change because his helmet was not fastened.
They approached the man, surnamed Lee (李), and while checking his identity, found that he had breached his home quarantine after returning from Malaysia.
Lee could be fined up to NT$1 million for breaking quarantine, they said.
In New Taipei City, prosecutors summoned Harry Lee (李來希), head of the Alliance for Monitoring Pension Reform, to appear in court on Monday next week for allegedly spreading misinformation on Facebook.
Harry Lee, known for his vocal opposition to the government’s pension reform measures, had posted a photograph of a fatal accident on March 13 in which a female motorist was killed by a truck on a street in Hsinchu City.
The motorist “was run over and died, because she was going to wait in line to buy medical masks,” Harry Lee wrote on Facebook.
Ministry of Justice officials said that an investigation showed the motorist was killed when she was trying to change to an inside lane because of an illegally parked van.
The incident had nothing to do with lining up to buy masks, they said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau also received complaints about Harry Lee’s post and after reviewing the evidence, sent him a notice to appear at the bureau to answer questions about the complaint.
After Harry Lee ignored the notice, New Taipei City prosecutors issued a summons for him to appear in court for allegedly spreading misinformation about the pandemic.
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