Premier Su Tseng-chang has unveiled guidelines on chartered flights repatriating Taiwanese citizens stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Wuhan is at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and transport links with the city have been cut as the city continues to be under quarantine.
At a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Su said an initial flight carrying 247 passengers to Taiwan on Monday “went awry”. He said there is to be no repeat of the problems with Monday’s evacuation flight.
In the future, Su said the government will give priority to getting those in most need of evacuation onto flights out of Wuhan. These include children, senior citizens, and people with chronic disease.
He also said Taiwanese health officials must aboard the aircraft to screen passengers before take-off. That’s after the discovery that Monday’s flight was carrying one passenger infected with coronavirus. Su said allowing those carrying the virus onto evacuation flights could pose a threat to other passengers’ health.
Su said China should give Taiwan a list of passengers for confirmation ahead of time.