Taiwan will quarantine all pilots for its largest carrier China Airlines Ltd for 14 days as it tries to stop an outbreak of Covid, said the health minister, impacting a lifeline for the island's trade-dependent economy, Reuters reports.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters the only way to break the chain of transmission at the carrier is to quarantine all China Airlines pilots currently in Taiwan and any who return.

"This will have a big impact on China Airlines, on its passenger and freighter flights, and for the crew, too. But for the safety of the whole community we cannot but make this decision," he said. The pilots will only be allowed out of quarantine once they have tested negative, Chen said.

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