Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Tuesday that the new travel ban for students and teachers is legal and for the sake of public health. Officials announced on Monday a ban on overseas travel for all students and teachers at the high school level or below. That was due to recent COVID-19 cases that were infected during their travel abroad including a high school student who had been to Greece.
Premier Su said that Article 7 of the Communicable Disease Control Act says authorities can implement effective preventative measures to control the occurrence of communicable diseases. He said going against relevant laws will incur punishment.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung said that controlling an outbreak on school campuses is challenging. He said though few students travel at this time of year, the ban was enacted to prevent some from doing so. Pan said that those with special needs can apply on a case by case basis for permission to travel.