Press Release of the Offshore Control Division of the Executive Yuan's SARS Epidemic Prevention, Control and Relief Committee
The Offshore Control Division (OCD) made a clarifying statement on recent media reports about a man from Taichung who had returned to Taiwan on May 5 from Macao. The man allegedly cleared customs in Macao by deceitful skills and failed to wear a mask during the flight from Macao to Taiwan. It has been verified that the man had filled in a questionnaire for SARS prevention when checking in, and had boarded the plane after airport personnel found him to be free of symptoms. Onboard staff requested him to put on and wear a mask throughout the entire flight. As investigation of the matter has shown, media reports claiming that the man did not wear a mask during the flight have been incorrect. Whether or not the man has truthfully filled in a questionnaire for SARS prevention, and had returned to Taiwan after passing customs by deceitful skills and concealing the fact that he was ill, will be clarified by the competent authorities today. The matter will then be handled according to regulations.
The man in question entered Macao at 5:25 p.m. on May 5 via the Macao Lianhua border checkpoint. At that time, he showed no signs of symptoms after taking body temperature. At 7:39 p.m. on the same evening he boarded EvaAir flight BR806 to Taiwan. After arrival at the CKS International Airport in Taoyuan, medical staff there took his temperature three times and consistently found it to be above 38 degrees Celsius. The man wore protective clothing and was immediately given into the care of doctors at the Lihsin Hospital, a contractor of the CKS Airport, for further examination. After that, he wore protective clothing and was transferred as a suspected SARS case to the Taichung Veteran's General Hospital for quarantine surveillance. The man was wearing a quarantine suit during that trip. At the directive of the Offshore Control Division, the Mainland Affairs Council's Macao office has already suggested to the Macao government that a strengthening of epidemic prevention and control measures may be necessary. Meanwhile, EvaAir has sterilized the airplane. The airline has also temporarily relieved the flight crew of their duties and placed them under quarantine surveillance. EvaAir has also transmitted the flight's passenger data to the Department of Health's Center for Disease Control (CDC) for follow-up surveillance.
With regard to the man's own claims that he "successfully cleared customs by deceitful skills to get on a plane back to Taiwan," the Offshore Control Division has this to say: it is the duty of all passengers to fill in the Questionnaire for SARS Prevention truthfully instead of hoping to evade by a fluke with concealment of symptoms or relevant facts. Whoever is proven to have concealed any facts, or made false statements, will be severely punished by the competent authorities and in accordance with regulations. The Offshore Control Division once more calls on the entire population to cooperate and comply with all prevention and quarantine measures of their own accord to ensure their own health and safety as well as that of their family, friends, and the entire nation.