The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday said that it would pay the costs of accommodation for people who were identified as close contacts of a COVID-19 case and placed under isolation between Dec. 14 last year and Friday.
Many people had complained that they had to pay from NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 per night for 14-day mandatory self-isolation at a designated disease prevention hotel.
More than 10,000 people have been placed under isolation since the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 began spreading in Taiwan last month.
Many people said they were identified as close contacts simply for dining in a restaurant, visiting a medical clinic or being at any number of sites at about the same time as a confirmed case. They said they were given no option but to isolate at a hotel at their own expense.
Taipei and Kaohsiung last month reassured their residents that the cost of compulsory hotel quarantine would be covered by the local governments. Taoyuan and Taichung said this month that they would also pay the costs, but some local governments only offered partial subsidies for hotel isolation.
Among those affected was a woman in Hsinchu who ate at a Japanese restaurant which a confirmed COVID-19 case had also visited at about the same time. She had to quarantine at a hotel, which cost her NT$33,800, despite having a single bedroom at home suitable for isolation.
A YouTuber uploaded a video during hotel isolation, saying that his house had an entire floor in which he could isolate, but the Pingtung County Government only allowed him to stay at a designated hotel at a personal cost of NT$32,000. That amount constitutes a monthly salary for many people, not to mention the salary lost during quarantine.
Such reports have led to public criticism that self-paid hotel isolation discourages people from scanning the contact tracing QR codes at restaurants, stores and public venues, as it feels as though only the people who comply with the rules are “punished” by the measures, and that it is unfair for residents of different cities and counties to be treated unequally.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, on Monday said that people would not be placed under isolation “just because they visited the same place at the same time” as confirmed cases, and that close contacts are identified by experts after contact tracing.
He said that generally people would be asked to isolate in a single bedroom with its own bathroom at home, and if they are linked to a special high-risk cluster, or if the local government assessed their room as unsuitable, a centralized quarantine facility paid for by the government would be offered.
If local governments have other reasons to expand close contact identification and force people to isolate in hotels, they must explain the reasons or bear the cost, he said. However, stories of compulsory self-paid isolation continue to be reported.
Chen on Friday said that the center would pay the mandatory isolation costs for about 6,000 people, but local governments must follow national rules on quarantine measures from now on.
This is not the only policy gap regarding COVID-19 prevention measures. For instance, Tainan imposes fines on people who fail to scan contact-tracing QR codes. Meanwhile, the CECC bans restaurants from providing dine-in services if it is determined that they have failed to follow contact registration rules, but has no penalty for patrons who do not use the system.
The CECC seems to have resolved this issue, but it is important that the government establish a mechanism for the affected people to apply for and receive compensation, and to ensure that local governments comply with national rules.
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