Taiwan To Bar All Foreign Nationals To Limit COVID-19 Spread

Effective Thursday, March 19th, Taiwan will block foreign nationals from entering the country, albeit with some exceptions.

A day earlier, reports surfaced that Taiwan was not permitting blue-collar migrant workers to reenter the country until the worst of the crisis had passed.

In this latest move to limit the virus, however, a much wider swathe of non-Taiwanese will be affected.

According to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the move is in direct response to a recent surge in imported COVID-19 cases brought in by returning travelers. The overwhelming majority of these cases have been Taiwanese nationals.

The ban does not apply to foreign Resident Card (ARC) holders entering Taiwan. Similarly exempt are individuals visiting for diplomatic reasons, or those with invites issued by the government.

All entering Taiwan, however, regardless of nationality, will now be required to undergo 14 days of home quarantine.

To date, Taiwan has been one of the least affected nations in the world, despite geographical proximity to China.

On Tuesday though, 10 new COVID-19 cases were added, to bring the total case number nationwide to 77.

50 of these cases are classified as imported, and as of Wednesday, March 18th, one patient had died from the disease.

Any foreign national concerned about their status should view the MOFA homepage for updates.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.