EVA Air fired three flight attendants for breaking quarantine rules in Taiwan, the airline confirmed on December 3, 2020.
After their flights arrived in Taiwan, three flight attendants broke off their mandatory five-day quarantine to see friends and family. One of the accused flight attendants shared photos of meetings with friends on social media, accidentally providing evidence of the violation. The airline fired them on November 10, November 17 and December 2, 2020, respectively.
Taiwan’s flag air carrier, EVA Air, outlined that it would not tolerate any behavior from its employees that could put the public’s health at risk, reported the Taiwan News. However, the airline said it will not impose any fines on the fired staff.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan implemented a mandatory home quarantine for all flight crew arriving on international long haul flights. The two-week quarantine was later on shortened to five days.
During a flight, the crew must wear protective equipment: goggles, surgical masks, protective clothing. The crew is also prohibited from leaving airport hotels and having any contact with locals during their stay in other countries.
The regulations were approved by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and set in motion in March 2020.
As of December 3, 2020, Taiwan had only one new imported case of COVID-19. That brings the total number of cases in the country to 686 since the start of the pandemic, reported the CECC.
On December 1, 2020, EVA Air launched new contactless facial recognition technology as a part of the United States Biometric Exit program. The new technology could also minimize the risk of the virus transmission.