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Taiwan urges PH to lift travel ban amid novel coronavirus scare

Taiwan is urging the Philippines to lift the temporary travel ban it imposed on all its direct flights due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, which is currently ravaging China.
This comes after the Department of Health said Monday that the travel ban has already been in effect late last week, as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte, in a bid to prevent to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The country has already blocked entry of foreign nationals coming directly from China, Hong Kong and Macau. It has cancelled all direct flights to these places as well.
Appealing to the government, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said in a press briefing that some Taiwanese were stranded at airports in the Philippines after it the ban was announced earlier this week.
“We are proactively in communication and have lodged representations with the Philippines, including the presidential office and foreign ministry, to tell them that we are not a virus area of China’s,” The New York Times quoted Ou as saying.
There are currently 18 confirmed novel coronavirus in Taiwan.
Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific both have cancelled their flights immediately after the temporary travel ban was rolled out.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, more than 115,000 Filipinos live and work in Taiwan, most of them are factory workers and household help.

Staff Report

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