Taiwan's EVA Air sacks pilot blamed for rare local COVID case (updated)

EVA Airways

23/12/2020 09:30

(Recasts, updates throughout)
    TAIPEI, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan's EVA Airways Corp
 2618.TW  sacked a New Zealand pilot on Wednesday whom the
government has blamed for the island's first locally transmitted
case of COVID-19 since April 12 because he failed to follow
disease prevention rules.
    Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to
early and effective prevention methods and widespread use of
masks, with all new cases for more than the last 250 days being
among travellers arriving on the island. 
    But the government was jolted by Tuesday's announcement of
the domestic infection of a woman who is a friend of a New
Zealand pilot confirmed to have been infected earlier this week
having flown routes to the United States.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2J209B 
    The case has ignited public anger, with one Taiwan
television station calling the pilot a "public enemy", after the
government said he had not reported all his contacts and the
places he had been, nor worn a face mask in the cockpit when he
should have. 
    EVA Air said a meeting of its discipline committee had found
the pilot had contravened government regulations, including the
communicable disease transmission law, and they had decided to
terminate him, effective immediately.
    "EVA Air has always abided by the government's epidemic
prevention policies, and most crew members also followed the
epidemic prevention regulations," it said. 
    "However, the behaviour of an individual employee has
undermined everyone's efforts at epidemic prevention."
    EVA Air, like most airlines, is operating a very reduced
schedule due to border restrictions globally.
    Neither the airline nor the government has named the pilot,
who is being treated in hospital. It has not been possible to
reach him for comment.
    Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Health Minister Chen
Shih-chung, said 170 of the woman's contacts had tested negative
for the virus, while three others are awaiting results.
    Taiwan has reported a total of 777 cases - mostly imported -
and seven deaths. Around 130 people remain in hospital for
treatment. 
    
    ($1 = 28.1610 Taiwan dollars)

 (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by  Tom Hogue and Chizu
Nomiyama)
 ((ben.blanchard@thomsonreuters.com;))