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TAIPEI: Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation fined EVA Airways Corp on Thursday T $ 1 million (US $ 35,000) after the government blamed one of its pilots for a rare case of locally transmitted Covid-19 because it did not follow up the rules of disease prevention.
Taiwan had not reported national transmission until this week since April 12, thanks to early and effective measures to stop the virus, including the massive use of masks and strict quarantines for all arrivals.
But the government was shocked by Tuesday’s announcement of the domestic infection of a woman who is friends with a New Zealand pilot who was confirmed to have become infected earlier this week after flying routes to the US.
EVA Air has fired the pilot, who has not been identified and is being treated at the hospital.
The case has ignited public ire after the government said it had not reported all of its contacts and the places it had been, nor had it worn a mask in the cabin when it should have.
In a statement referring to the “uproar” caused by the case, the Transport Ministry quoted its minister Lin Chia-lung as saying that the airline had not fully implemented the epidemic prevention measures.
For violating rules related to Covid-19, the ministry will fine the airline T $ 1 million, the maximum legal fine it can impose, he added.
The ministry will require airlines to toughen their epidemic prevention measures for air crews and, at the same time, issue its own new rules, he said.
EVA Air, which has already apologized for the incident, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The pilot could not be reached for comment.
EVA Air, like most airlines, has very short hours due to worldwide border restrictions.
