Press Release of the Offshore Control Division of the Executive Yuan's SARS Prevention, Control and Relief Committee
According to the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Taiwan Businesspeople Associations in the Mainland are asking Taiwan¡¦s government to consider extending the deadline for taxes filing by Taiwan businesspeople in the Mainland during the period of SARS prevention and quarantine measures. This would help to reduce Taiwan¡¦s share of the SARS prevention burden, and at the same time protect the health of Taiwan businesspeople in the Mainland. The Offshore Control Division called a meeting today (May 10) to discuss this proposal. The Ministry of Finance (MOF), in cooperation with the SEF, was put in charge of exploring the feasibility of the proposed scheme, and to come up with a conclusion as soon as possible.
Another issue was again the problem of travelers intentionally coming/returning to Taiwan via a non-SARS-affected area to avoid compulsory quarantine measures upon entering Taiwan. The Department of Health (DOH) has already made a public announcement on this matter, stating that anybody failing to truthfully fill in his Questionnaire for SARS Prevention is to be severely punished in accordance with Article 18 of the "Interim Regulations of SARS Control," Paragraph III of Article 34 of the "Communicable Diseases Prevention Act," and Article 192 of the Criminal Law. Violators shall also be placed under compulsory centralized quarantine by the government.
The announcement also states that during the implementation period of special quarantine measures, transit travelers who come/return to Taiwan from an area with a concentration of SARS cases via an area without a concentration of SARS cases will not be placed under compulsory quarantine, if they have spent at least ten days in an area/areas without a concentration of SARS cases and can produce evidence (such as plane tickets/boarding passes) to prove so. Those who spent less than ten days in areas without a concentration of SARS cases, however, still have to be put under a compulsory 10-day home quarantine in accordance with "Type B Home Quarantine Measures." All transit passengers traveling to Taiwan from an area without a concentration of SARS, but changing planes in an airport situated in an area with a concentration of SARS cases (simple transit only, no checking out of the airport), are to be put under enhanced follow-up surveillance and management. They will be served an "Enhanced Follow-up Surveillance Notice," and be informed of necessary precautions. In other developments, the Aviation Police Bureau under the National Police Administration, MOI, has already instructed customs officers to collect the Questionnaires for SARS Prevention of passengers entering Taiwan on flights from areas not affected by SARS. As for those travelers coming to Taiwan on flights from SARS-affected areas, the Center for Disease Control will collect their questionnaires, and serve them compulsory quarantine notices. Customs officers should then thoroughly examine the questionnaires in accordance with the "Statute Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area" and the "Entry, Exit and Immigration Law," formulated by the Ministry of the Interior. Should they discover anything suspicious, officers are instructed to ask passengers to produce their plane tickets and other relevant documents. This procedure is aimed to prevent travelers from successfully avoiding being quarantined by entering Taiwan via a third place.
Seeing that airport transit hotels serve as 10-day quarantine abodes during the period of quarantine measures, it was decided in today¡¦s meeting that the MOTC Tourism Bureau should be in charge of coordinating with related agencies to strengthen commercial facilities and services at transit hotels.
As the implementation of "Type B Home Quarantine Measures," in combination with domestic prevention and quarantine measures, is serving the important purpose of eradicating the SARS epidemic from our nation, the Offshore Control Division has already gained permission from the Executive Yuan¡¦s SARS Prevention, Control and Relief Committee to implement a 14-day extension of the "Measures to Cope with the Continued Spreading of SARS in the Wake of Taipei Municipal HoPing Hospital¡¦s Mass Infection" that had been announced and come into force on April 28. Business circles have already been consulted on this subject, and have expressed support for a continuation of immigration cutbacks. Yet business circles have also voiced their hope that while all efforts are made to implement successful epidemic prevention measures, reasonable space will still be given to normal commercial activities. The Offshore Control Division will call together all related governmental agencies to discuss this matter in detail.