The migrant worker was spotted briefly stepping out of his room doorway at a hotel where he was undergoing a mandatory 14 days of quarantine in Kaohsiung City. Central News Agency (CNA) and CNN reported that CCTV footage revealed he had spent eight seconds out of his room in the city, which has 56 hotels with about 3,000 rooms used for quarantine purposes.

Hotel staff immediately reported the man to health authorities and he was slapped with a mandatory fine of 100,000 Taiwan dollars (more than R53,000) for breaking the rules. Taiwan News reported that the man, who had travelled to Taiwan on November 13 for work, was “trying to give something to his friend in the adjacent room” when he was spotted in the hallway. “The health department emphasised that anyone who leaves their designated quarantine location will receive a minimum fine of NT$100,000, regardless of how soon they return.

It added that surveillance footage of the city's quarantine hotels is checked regularly and that those under quarantine should abide by the country's epidemic prevention regulations,” the publication reported.