Most Taiwan-China passenger flights to be halted

ROC Central News Agency

02/07/2020 08:30 PM

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) All passenger flights between Taiwan and China will be halted from Feb. 10 to April 29, with the exception of those to five destinations in China, the Central Epidemic Command Center announced Friday.

Starting Monday, all flights across the Taiwan Strait, excluding those between Taiwan and Beijing, Pudong and Hongqiao in Shanghai, Xiamen in Fujian and Chengdu in Sichuan, will be suspended as part of government efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, the center said.

Since mid-December, the Wuhan coronavirus has claimed 640 lives and resulted in over 31,500 confirmed cases, mostly in China, prompting governments around the world to adopt a series of measures to counter the spread of the virus.

As of Friday, Taiwan had 16 confirmed cases.

(By Flor Wang and Wu Hsin-yun)

Enditem/AW