Virus Outbreak: Tourism Bureau official suspended over airport pickup

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter





A Tourism Bureau official was suspended yesterday after an investigation found that he had abused his administrative privilege by ordering a bureau employee stationed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to treat his arriving son to coffee at the airport before he could arrive to drive him home.

The son later tested positive for COVID-19, as did the employee.

The employee, who was listed as case No. 269 in Taiwan by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), had no recent travel history to COVID-19-infected areas.

The official’s son, who is in his 20s, was returning from the Philippines, after the government on March 17 issued a level 3 “warning” travel advisory for it.

The employee’s five-year-old son yesterday was also confirmed to be infected, making him case No. 299.

The other students in the pre-school class that the boy attends and their teachers were ordered to undergo 14-day mandatory at-home isolation.

The disease prevention policy of the CECC says that people arriving from areas under a level 3 advisory must either travel from the airport in disease-

prevention taxis or car-rental services, or be picked up by family members, before entering mandatory 14-day quarantine. They are banned from using public transportation until they complete the two-week regimen.

Following allegations that the official abused his power, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications launched an investigation and found that he arrived at the airport between 3:30pm and 4pm on March 20.

Even though he had verbally asked the Tourism Bureau director general for permission to leave, his written request had not been logged by the human resources department, the investigation showed.

As picking up his son at the airport did not constitute urgent business, the official did not follow proper procedure in filing for permission to leave and would be considered absent from work, the ministry said.

The investigation found the official’s son went through normal arrival channels, where he filled in home quarantine forms, had his passport checked, claimed his baggage and passed through customs.

The employee greeted the official’s son at the arrivals gate and treated him to coffee before his father arrived, it said.

The actions breached disease prevention policies and exposed people to greater risks, it said.

The official was suspended pending further investigation by a performance evaluation committee, the ministry said.

Although the official does not live with his son, he has been under self-health management since the diagnosis was confirmed on Saturday, the ministry said.

The ministry said it would make a list of people the official has been in close contact with over the past week or so, which reportedly included ministry officials and legislators.

This story has been updated since it was first published.