Dealing with the SARS epidemic: Measures taken with regard to people entering Taiwan from Macao
No confirmed cases of SARS have been reported in the Macao area so far, and Taiwan's government has therefore not put the Macao area subject to the applicability of compulsory quarantine measures. Yet the SARS epidemic has shown no signs of abating in areas in close proximity to Macao, and to avoid loophole of prevention measures being produced whenever people travel to Taiwan via Macao from concentration areas that are infected by SARS outbreaks, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced the following set of measures coming into force on April 30 to deal with ROC nationals, Macao residents and other non-ROC nationals returning to/entering Taiwan via Macao (for more specifics, please refer to the attached table of Guidelines for Dealing with ROC Nationals, Macao Residents and other Non-ROC Nationals Entering Taiwan):
1. ROC Nationals: Those who (in addition to the other obligatory entry documents) hold a certificate issued by Taiwan's Macao Affairs Office (official name: Taipei Economic and Cultural Center) proving that they did not leave the Macao area over the past ten days, will not be subject to compulsory quarantine which was implemented in a special program directed at curbing the SARS spread. Those who do not hold such a certificate will be dealt with as those entering Taiwan from Hong Kong or Mainland China.
2. Macao Residents: Those who (in addition to the other obligatory entry documents) hold a certificate issued by the Macao government proving that they did not exit the Macao area over the last ten days, will not be subject to compulsory quarantine which was implemented in a special program directed at curbing the SARS spread. Those who do not hold such a certificate will be dealt with in the same way as Mainland China and Hong Kong residents entering Taiwan.
3. Other Non-ROC Nationals from Macao: Foreigners entering Taiwan directly from Macao are not subject to compulsory quarantine which was implemented in a special program directed at curbing the SARS spread, if they can produce evidence that they have not been to any areas with a concentration of SARS cases (as declared by the WHO) over the past ten days. Those who cannot produce such evidence will have to undergo compulsory quarantine for ten days.
4. Foreign transit passengers who travel to Taiwan from an area without a concentration of SARS cases via Macao will not be subject to compulsory quarantine. ROC nationals, on the other hand, who return to Taiwan from such an area via Macao will still be subject to enhanced follow-up surveillance. All those who enter Taiwan via Macao from an area with a concentration of SARS cases will be put under compulsory quarantine for ten days.
5. The duration of enforcement for the above regulations is the same as for the “Government Measures Taken to Cope with the Spreading of SARS in the Wake of Taipei Municipal HoPing Hospital's Mass Infection announced by the Executive Yuan on April 27.