Taiwan’s Department of Health this weekend began fining people for failing to report flu-like symptoms to local health authorities. Authorities fined an infected man who returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan where the coronavirus epidemic recently broke out.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health confirmed that the businessman, who arrived at Kaohsiung International Airport on January 21st, will be fined 300,000 New Taiwan dollars ($9,987) for violating the Communicable Disease Control Act.
The man, who is in his 50s, is one of three individuals in Taiwan to have contracted the virus. He reportedly failed to inform health authorities that he was experiencing symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. The day after his return to Taiwan, the man visited a night club without wearing a face mask, leading to a female employee contracting the virus and experiencing symptoms shortly after.
As well as the woman having to seek treatment, the club was forced to shut its doors for two consecutive nights while they disinfected the premises. Health authorities are also monitoring the condition of everyone else who came into close contact with him.
Taiwan is now starting to see its first cases of domestic contraction. On Tuesday, local media reported that the eighth case of coronavirus was the husband of a woman who contracted it during a visit to China.
The virus is typically accompanied by flu-like symptoms: fever, headaches, fatigue, and coughing, among others.
“There are no specific treatments for illnesses caused by human coronaviruses,” notes the American Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “Most people with common human coronavirus illness will recover on their own.”
The virus originated in Wuhan, central China, and has since spread across the country. As of Tuesday morning, around 4,500 people have contracted the virus and over 100 dying as a result. Sporadic cases of the virus have also been confirmed in 18 other countries, including Australia, France, and Canada.
There are growing suggestions that the Chinese Communist Party may be deliberately deflating the numbers of those infected in order to reduce international concern. On Tuesday, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping described the outbreak as a “demon” that China would tackle effectively.
“The epidemic is a demon and we cannot let this demon hide,” state media quoted him as saying. “The Chinese government has always adopted an open, transparent and responsible attitude to timely release of information on the epidemic, domestically and to other countries.”
On Monday evening, the CDC and the State Department issued a travel advisory recommending that Americans avoid all but essential travel to China, and to do no travel whatsoever to Wuhan. Those who do travel are warned to “avoid all contact” with sick people, animals, and animal markets, while also regularly washing their hands.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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