There needs to be a probe into the decision to ease COVID-19 quarantine rules for flight crew, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.
The Central Epidemic Command Center on April 14 announced that it was relaxing quarantine regulations for flight crew members of Taiwanese airlines returning to the nation after working long-haul flights abroad.
Starting from April 15, they were required to undergo three days of quarantine, at the end of which they would be tested for the virus, followed by 11 days of self-health management, the center said at the time.
Photo: CNA
The center has failed to clearly explain the process behind its decision to shorten the isolation period, Chiang told a weekly meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee.
“It even claimed there were no meeting minutes, which is avoiding outside supervision,” he said.
“We ask that the control and judicial agencies pursue the truth,” he said, adding that the people who made the decision must take responsibility.
If administrative negligence is found, compensation should be paid for people who died after being infected with COVID-19, he said.
“Only in this way can a repeat of the same mistake truly be avoided,” he added.
Countries in Europe and the US have gradually begun to lift pandemic restrictions, and the EU is developing vaccine passports to reopen its borders, Chiang said.
“If [Taiwan] cannot acquire enough vaccines in time ... we might go from being a model student in disease prevention to becoming an isolated island,” he said.
Taiwan might even be “unable to stand on the starting line of post-pandemic global economic recovery,” he said, adding that this would had a severe effect on industrial development.
Over the past year, thanks to the efforts of the public, the domestic COVID-19 situation was well-managed and people were willing to wait for locally manufactured vaccines, he said.
However, with the spread of the local outbreak, demand for vaccines has been high and securing internationally approved doses has become a priority, he said.
In related news, the KMT said in a statement that it has collected 4,000 COVID-19 rapid testing kits and would be distributing them to the KMT-led governments of Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.
As healthcare capacity on outlying islands is lower than on Taiwan proper, rapid testing should be done across the board to prevent people who have contracted the virus from entering, KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) said.
The KMT plans to purchase 40,000 medical goggles, 110,000 face shields, 12,000 protective gowns and 13,000 rapid testing kits to support COVID-19 prevention efforts by city and county governments, it said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
RSS