Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung announces travel alerts for France, Germany and Spain. Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung announces travel alerts for France, Germany and Spain. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan will raise its travel advisories for France, Germany and Spain to a level-2 alert, meaning that citizens traveling to the three European countries should strengthen prevention measures against infections during their stay, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday (March 7).

Travelers returning from those countries should closely monitor their health for 14 days following their arrival in Taiwan, according to the CECC. The monitoring includes taking one’s temperature twice a day and staying home as much as possible.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) was responding to the call by raising its own travel advisory for the three countries to yellow, CNA reported.

At present, Italy is the only European Union nation listed in the level-3 warning category calling on people not to travel there unless absolutely necessary. China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Iran have also been slapped with the same warning.

Japan and Singapore are subject to level-2 alerts, while Thailand stands alone in the level-1 “watch” category, which calls on travelers to observe local antivirus measures.