Taiwan’s EVA Airways has fired a pilot convicted of the first domestic transmission of coronavirus in the nation in eight months.
The airline said the anonymous pilot, a New Zealander, was responsible for the infection of a local woman, the first local case in 253 days, according to Yahoo. News. The pilot violated public safety regulations and “seriously damaged the company’s reputation and image,” the company said in a statement.
Despite being reminded of the rule of masking by a Taiwanese colleague who later tested positive, the man worked without a mask. According to Yahoo, the pilot, who coughed during a Dec. 12 flight from the U.S.-Boundary, was fined 10 10,600 for failing to “accurately” account for his activities and contacts.
Of the 173 people who came in contact with the infected woman, 170 tested negative, Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chang said. The pilot is believed to have visited two department stores in addition to other locations, but previously said he was unable to remember where he was and did not tell authorities he contacted an infected local woman.
For existing protocols any pilot is required to come for quarantine for three days per foreign trip, which will be tightened as a result of the requirement outbreak.
Taiwan, which sealed its borders and implemented lockdown measures at the onset of the epidemic, reported only 776 cases of the virus and seven deaths. In each case of the virus between April and December, a handful of Taiwanese nationals returned home and foreign nationals.
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