If you think breaking quarantine won’t land you in hot water, think again. A man has been fined a whopping R52,000 [$3,500] for stepping out of his hotel room for a mere eight seconds in Taiwan.
The man is a migrant worker from the Philippines and was quarantining at a hotel in Kaohsiung City. He left his hotel room for less than ten seconds to drop a parcel at the door of a friend’s hotel room, who was also in quarantine on the same floor.
The eight-second incident was captured on camera by CCTV. Hotel staff quickly reported the rule breaker to the Department of Health.
The fine may seem harsh at first, but Taiwan has recently experienced a spike in the number of imported COVID-19 cases, which led the government to request hotel managers to closely monitor guests who are in quarantine.
Despite a recent increase in imported COVID-19 cases, Taiwan has been praised for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country never implemented strict lockdown regulations like many other nations have. Instead, it focused its efforts on mass testing, mandatory quarantines, and speedy contact tracing operations.
The country even started screening passengers on direct flights from the city of Wuhan as early as December 31, 2019.
Taiwanese authorities have slapped a $3,500 fine on a man who broke quarantine regulations for just eight seconds https://t.co/kJjH8xQTzC
— CNN (@CNN) December 8, 2020
As of December 9, Taiwan has 720 active COVID-19 cases, with seven deaths and 582 recoveries according to World O Meter.
Picture: Pixabay
