Taiwan bars arrivals from India amid coronavirus crisis

A view of the empty departure hall at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, January 7, 2021. REUTERS/Ann Wang

TAIPEI — Taiwan will bar from Tuesday the entry of people who have been to India over the previous 14 days, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said, the latest place to enforce curbs on travel from coronavirus-battered India.

The Indian variant of the virus has reached at least 17 countries, including Britain, Iran and Switzerland, spurring several to close their borders to those traveling from India.

India’s tally of infections stood just shy of 20 million on Monday, after it reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases for a 12th straight day.

Except for Taiwanese citizens, all those who had been in India in the prior 14 days would be kept out, Chen said on Monday, with the restriction taking effect at midnight local time. Taiwanese returning from India will have to spend 14 days in centralised quarantine facilities, however.

Earlier, Deputy Economy Minister Chen Chern-chyi said the government was considering whether to send an aircraft to evacuate the 150 Taiwanese businesspeople now in India.

However, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said their assessment was there was currently no need to organize such an evacuation, adding that no other country was doing this.