CECC Bans Medical Personnel from Travelling|中央疫情中心宣布 將禁醫護人員出國

To maintain the medical manpower within the nation amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the Central Epidemic Command Center has announced to ban medical personnel working in hospitals from travelling aboard.


The COVID-19 epidemic is taking a toll on countries around the globe, with accumulated confirmed cases surpassing the 70,000 mark and 2,000 deaths. In Taiwan, there are 28 confirmed cases. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has imposed a ban on healthcare personnel visiting other nations to ensure there is enough medical manpower within the nation to combat the virus. This policy applies to those who work at the frontline in the hospitals. Those who work in clinics are not included.

The hospital would be a widely affected if there is infection within the hospital. The impact would be detrimental to the running of the healthcare system. Therefore this policy is directed at the medical staffs working frontline in the hospitals.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will strictly prohibit medical personnel to travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau. Medical staff who need to travel to areas that have travel warnings for conferences or other special reasons, need to obtain permission beforehand. They also need to perform self-assessments of their health every day for 14 days after they return to Taiwan. In order to prevent infections within the hospital, they are also banned from working at the frontlines during this period.

There are many medical conferences across different departments from April to October in non-epidemic areas such as the United States. Many have already registered and paid. It is a pre-planned trip. We need to think thoroughly about how to compensate those who cannot attend the conferences.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare stressed that the epidemic prevention is like being in a war, therefore it will stipulate proper guidelines to limit the travel of medical personnel. Related details will be discussed on Tuesday, February 25 by inviting representatives of hospitals, professional associations and deans to a discussion meeting. The policy will be put forward after everything has been worked out. It is estimated that the policy will affect 32,000 medical doctors and 115,000 nursing staffs in Taiwan.



武漢肺炎疫情在全球延燒，累計確診病例數超過7萬例，有2千多人死亡，台灣則有28名確診個案，中央流行疫情指揮中心宣布，為了確保國內醫療量能，將禁止醫護人員出國，對象以醫院第一線直接與照護病患相關醫事人員為主，診所醫護人員則不在此限。

衛福部醫事司長 石崇良表示：「院內感染一旦發生，其實對醫療的運作，還有影響的層面是相當大的，所以我們現在鎖定的對象呢，主要是以第一線，從事照顧病人的醫護人員為主。」

衛福部表示，初步規劃，基於風險考量，中港澳地區將嚴格禁止醫護人員前往，其他已發布為旅遊警示地區，則必須報准才能出國，例如重要會議、公務或特殊原因需要等，除了需經醫院首長同意之外，醫護人員返國後、也應落實自主健康管理14天，而且這段期間、不得從事第一線醫療照護工作，以防止發生院內感染。

康寧醫院副院長 尹長生表示：「非疫區的，像是美國這個地方，4月到10月很多的會議，每個科都有，很多都是在已經預定計畫了，報了名，甚至旅費都給了，怎麼樣補償沒有辦法去的人，可能還要再考慮清楚。」

衛福部強調，防疫如作戰，因此將訂出指引、適度限制醫事人員出國，相關實施細節將在25號、週二，邀集各級醫院協會代表，專業學會及院長共同討論，確定後才會上路，而根據統計，全國醫院的受僱醫師約有3.2萬人，護理人員則有11.5萬人。