Taiwan on Tuesday issued a travel advisory to Israel, warning its citizens they would be immediately quarantined upon arrival in the Jewish State due to coronavirus spread.
The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry's move comes a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government has decided to quarantine anyone, whether Israelis or tourists, arriving from overseas for 14 days over the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Level 2 travel notice urges all Taiwanese nationals travelling to Israel to “practice enhanced precautions.”
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Taiwanese people wearing masks as a precautionary measure walk in the street, in Taipei
(Photo: EPA)
Taiwan on Saturday issued a similar travel advisory to France, Germany and Spain due to the rapid increases in the numbers of coronavirus cases in the European countries.
"After a whole day of complex discussions, we've reached a decision: every person arriving in Israel from abroad must enter a 14-day quarantine," Netanyahu told reporters during a news conference on Monday. "This is a difficult decision, but it is necessary to maintain public health, and public health is above all else. The decision will be in effect for the next two weeks."
For Israelis arriving to the countries, the order has already gone into effect. For foreign nationals arriving in Israel, the directive will go into effect on Thursday.
The decision was preceded by a heated argument between Security ministers, as they failed earlier Monday to reach an agreement over whether to extend the preventive measures against the virus, namely, the extension of the quarantine obligation imposed on arrivals from countries hit by the pathogen to the United States as well.
Some of the ministers strongly opposed the move and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri claimed the new measures will put an additional 240,000 people in quarantine.