COVID Passenger Allowed to Board Uni Air Flight 立榮飛廈門航班 一乘客入境後採檢陽性

Two passengers tested positive in Xiamen after leaving from Taiwan's Songshan airport and one of them was allowed on board with a positive COVID-19 test result. Uni Air issued a statement, admitting there is "negligence" , but also condemned the passenger for violating related regulations. 
 

Border control has been tightened since the pandemic broke out in Taiwan. Passengers of all nationalities are required to provide a certificate of a negative RT-PCR test result issued within three days prior to boarding the flight. However, a passenger with a positive test result was allowed on board a Uni Air's flight that left from Songshan to Xiamen on May 31. Despite having a positive PCR test for COVID-19. The Central Epidemic Command Center later confirmed the report.

We were notified yesterday around noontime by China that there were two confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the travelers. We now have a clear understanding of the testing situation of these two cases while they were still in Taiwan.

The flight carried 154 passengers to Xiamen. Among them, two tested positive after receiving tests upon arrival, including a man surnamed Chen and another passenger. Uni Air later issued a statement, admitting there was "negligence" in its passport and required document checks due to the recent heavy workload after the outbreak. Meanwhile, it also points out both of the passengers did not fill out the Passenger Health Declaration Form truthfully. Uni Air condemned their reckless actions that put others on board in danger and promised it will cooperate in the investigation process, educate its employees, especially ground staff and hand down punishment to those accountable.

The entire inspection process has become relatively complex due to the epidemic. If he did provide us with a positive PCR test, it would be impossible for us to allow him to board the plane. If we allowed him to board the plane, then it could only mean that we didn’t know that his test report was positive.

Flight crew members are at risk of being infected because they need to be in close contact with the passengers such as when they are serving meals. The virus can’t be seen with our naked eyes.

According to Uni Air ground staff members, passengers are required to have their PCR test checked once only at the ticketing counter. After that, only flight tickets and passports will be checked before boarding the plane. Flight attendants also have no right to inspect passenger’s PCR test report. Therefore, if the personnel at the ticket counter did not check the health information thoroughly, then a confirmed case could have boarded the plane and become an epidemic prevention loophole. Another potential loophole, according to flight attendants, is the facial recognition scanner at the Songshan airport. Following the surge in domestic COVID-19 cases, travelers are using the scanner instead of being checked by security personnel.