Many countries around the world have imposed strict measures and travel restrictions to prevent imported cases of Covid-19 from being brought into their country.
The travel restrictions and warnings are usually against countries that have been heavily affected by the coronavirus outbreak, but some are banning all arrivals and departures completely.
Clearly, it’s not a great time for airline workers.
Yet, despite the seriousness of the pandemic and the number of warnings in place, some people still can’t live without travelling.
Taiwanese Govt. Putting New Measures In Place Regarding Covid-19
The Taiwanese government is about to take stricter measures after discovering that many of its residents are still making travel plans, according to Taipei Times.
Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare, Chen Shih-chung, said on Mon, 16 March 2020, that the global COVID-19 pandemic has changed drastically in the past few days, and that the country’s latest cases are all people who have just returned to Taiwan.
The government has now announced that those who choose to travel to places under warning notices risk having to pay for their own testing and treatment if they contract COVID-19.
And their names will also be made public for the rest of the nation to see.
Most Of Their Cases Are Imported
On Wednesday, 18 Mar, Taiwan announced 23 cases of the coronavirus, raising the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 100.
19 of the 23 cases were imported, and most of their new cases in the past few days have been imported as well.
Majority of the latest imported cases come from countries in Europe. 9 of them (Cases 56, 57, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, and 73) went on the same tour group during a holiday in Turkey from 4-13 Mar.
Fines And Publishing Of Names For Those Who Don’t Comply
Chen said on Monday that tightened border controls would be expanded to whole regions as the pandemic continues to spread.
“We sympathize with the Taiwanese who contracted the virus in other countries, but if people still insist on travelling to certain countries that we have advised them to avoid, we would have to take stricter measures,” he said.
The new rules state that people who travel to countries that are under a level 3 warning notice are no longer eligible for the government’s home isolation or quarantine subsidy. They would also have to pay for their own testing and treatment, and their names would be made public.
They also have a number of fines in place.
Those who provide false information on Health Declaration and Home Quarantine Notices could be fined up to NT$150,000 (~SGD$7,100), and if they breach their home isolation or quarantine regulations, they could be fined between NT$100,000(~SGD$4,733) and NT$1 million (~SGD$47,330).
And as mentioned again, their names could also be published for those offences.
Although Taiwan has been praised by many for its excellent efforts to contain the spread of the virus during the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, their number of cases has been shooting up over the past few days.
The government also announced today that it will be banning entry to most foreigners starting midnight, and everyone entering Taiwan from now will be put into home quarantine for 14 days.
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