A couple who owns a store in Pingtung have been under fire as there is business as usual after they returned from Turkey. They insisted they had not done anything wrong as they returned before the travel advisory was upgraded. Health officials also admitted they could only advise "self monitoring" but it's not legally binding. Elsewhere in Pingtung, a seafood seller has closed his shop for 14 days because his daughter, who recently arrived back in Taiwan, is in home quarantine.
The owners of this Pingtung County store returned to Taiwan from Turkey on the 12th. The government didn't track them down and ask them to home quarantine until the 18th. In the days in between, they took part in many community events and it was business as usual at the store. Someone reported them to the authorities on the 19th.
They didn't have a fever when they got back, so they weren't asked to (quarantine) at home. After they got back, (the village chief told them) to stay at home, but they wouldn't and went all over the place.
We live next door to them so we're really worried, but there's nothing we can do. Their feet are on their bodies.
Local residents had asked the couple to at least monitor their health, but the couple says Taiwan didn't designate Turkey a "self-health management" country until the 14th and they didn't do anything wrong.
We got back on the 12th. Right. They're making stuff up.
(Right now), we don't have the authority to make them stay at home. However, they should not have been running their store.
The local health bureau says even if the couple had been "self-health management" targets from the beginning, self-health management is only a recommendation and there is no way to fine them. The bureau says it has stepped up monitoring since the 19th.
Elsewhere in Pingtung, a seafood seller has closed his shop for 14 days because his daughter, who recently arrived back in Taiwan, is in mandatory home quarantine. There has been panic in the community due to rumors the store owner tested positive for COVID-19.
We don't know how the rumor got started, but we've decided to quarantine at home.
The owner and his wife are now in self-imposed quarantine and police are trying to find out who started the rumors.
鐵捲門拉下，雜貨店暫停營業，經營者是屏東縣一對夫妻，12日從土耳其返國，18日才被追溯為居家檢疫對象，不過期間他們已在社區頻繁活動，且持續開店，造成社區恐慌，19日陸續有民眾上網檢舉。
追溯居家檢疫對象鄰居表示：「回來說，他沒發燒，沒怎樣，不用居家(檢疫)。回來就跟村長說，說要他居家 ，他不要，到處跑。」
追溯居家檢疫對象鄰居表示：「我們住隔壁當然會擔心，但沒辦法，腳長在他們身上。」
社區居民曾勸當事人至少自主健康管理，但這對夫妻澄清，土耳其14日才被列為歸國需自主健康管理的國家，他們並未違規。
追溯居家檢疫對象表示：「我們12日回來的，對，他們也這樣造謠。」
屏東縣衛生局副局長 張秀君表示：「（現在)我們並沒有辦法，去限制他們家不能開店。是他們當事者，不應該去商店裡面活動，跟做這些販售動作。」
衛生局表示，即便兩人一開始就是自主健康管理對象，也只能勸導，無法開罰，但19日起已加強監管。同樣在屏東，一家海產店業者的女兒剛回國，列為居家檢疫對象，社區卻謠傳為確診個案還開店，引發恐慌。
海產店業者表示：「怎麼會這個消息，不知道從哪邊發過來的，也是莫名其妙，所以我們就選擇休息。」
海產店19日晚上緊急宣布店休14天，不只是女兒，連業者夫妻兩人也都不出門，希望能讓社區安心。警方也要調查造謠的人。