Taiwan on Saturday tightened its anti-coronavirus measures, extending the list of international arrivals ordered to undergo hotel quarantine in a bid to prevent imported infections.
All individuals arriving on the island will be ordered to quarantine in special hotels for 14 days if they share a home with vulnerable people, under new rules announced by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The vulnerable people include those aged over 65, children under 6, and people with diabetes, cardiovascular or lung disease.
Since mid-April, the measure has applied to international arrivals who have visited Europe, the U.S., and South/South-East Asian countries in the last 14 days.
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Just like in other countries, hotels in Taiwan had been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic, which had forced sweeping travel restrictions worldwide.
Several Local Governments have been helping Taiwanese hotels to adjust to hosting people in quarantine.
According to the CECC, there are 6,933 hotel beds reserved for such purposes. As of April 30, 1,860 of those beds were occupied.
Saturday’s announcement came after three new imported cases were revealed by the CECC.
The Minister of Health and Welfare, Chen Shih-Chung, who is also the CECC commander, said that the new Covid-19 patients were Taiwanese nationals who had returned from Japan and Senegal.
Shih-Chung said Taiwan had not registered any locally transmitted infections for 20 consecutive days.
So far, Taiwan has confirmed 432 coronavirus cases in the nation. With Six death and 324 recovered.