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TAIPEI (REUTERS) – Taiwan’s EVA Airways Corp fired a New Zealand pilot on Wednesday (December 23) who was blamed by the government for the first locally transmitted Covid-19 case on the island since April 12 because it did not follow the rules of disease prevention.
Taiwan has kept the pandemic under control thanks to early and effective prevention methods and the widespread use of masks, and all new cases for more than the last 250 days are among travelers arriving on the island.
But the government has been affected by Tuesday’s announcement of the domestic infection of a woman who is friends with a New Zealand pilot who was confirmed to have been infected earlier this week after flying routes to the United States.
The case has drawn public ire, with a Taiwanese television station calling the pilot a “public enemy” after the government said it had not reported all of his contacts and the places he had been, nor had worn a face mask in the cockpit when it should. to have.
EVA Air said that a meeting of its discipline committee found that the pilot had violated government regulations, including the contagious disease transmission law, and that they had decided to fire him, effective immediately.
“EVA Air has always adhered to the government’s epidemic prevention policies, and most of the crew members also followed the epidemic prevention regulations,” he said. “However, the behavior of an individual employee has undermined everyone’s efforts to prevent epidemics.”
EVA Air, like most airlines, has very short hours due to worldwide border restrictions.
Neither the airline nor the government have named the pilot, who is being treated at the hospital. It has not been possible to reach him for comment.
Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said 170 of the woman’s contacts tested negative for the virus, while three others are awaiting the results.
Taiwan has reported a total of 777 cases, mostly imported, and seven deaths. Around 130 people remain hospitalized for treatment.
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