A total of 84 healthcare facilities have been designated to provide COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that people planning on traveling abroad can pay for themselves, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported six more imported cases.
The list of sites, as well as the examination times and fees, have been published on the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Web site.
The PCR tests cost between NT$5,000 and NT$7,000, and 37 of the facilities can provide rapid testing services, providing same-day results, the CECC said.
Photo: CNA
Fifty-seven of the facilities would provide the testing services during the Lunar New Year holiday, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC.
People planning to travel abroad are advised to check what documentation and formatting of the test reports are required by their destination before getting a test, he said.
Chen said the latest imported cases were three Indonesian migrant workers, a Frenchman, a Cypriot and a Taiwanese who is a permanent resident of the US.
Two Indonesian women, cases No. 681 and No. 682, arrived in Taiwan for work on Nov. 17, with one in her 40s and the other in her 20s, he said.
They tested negative during a special project on Friday last week that gave PCR tests to 939 Indonesian migrant workers housed in centralized quarantine facilities, but when tested again before their quarantine period ended on Monday their tests came back positive.
Case No. 683 is an Indonesian man in his 20s who arrived on Nov. 14 and whose company paid for him to be tested on Sunday as his stay at a quarantine hotel was ending, Chen said.
While the man had no COVID-19 symptoms, his test came back positive yesterday, he added.
Case No. 684 is a Taiwanese in his 30s who returned on Sunday last week and began suffering a mild abnormal sense of smell later that day while he was at a quarantine hotel, Chen said.
The man’s symptoms worsened two days later, so he reported his condition and was tested on Thursday last week, and the result came back positive yesterday, he said.
Fifteen passengers who sat near Case No. 684 on the flight to Taiwan have been put under home isolation, Chen said.
Case No. 685, the Cypriot, arrived on Sunday from the US for a business trip, but had a temperature of 38.6°C upon arrival at the airport, so he was asked to take a test and stay at a centralized quarantine center while he waited for the result, which returned positive yesterday, Chen said.
Case No. 686 is a Frenchman in his 50s, who had been invited by a local company to attend a business event. He arrived on Nov. 20 after transiting through Turkey on Nov. 19, Chen said.
The man developed a sore throat on Friday last week at a quarantine hotel and was tested on Monday, and the result came back positive yesterday, he said.
Four of the six had provided negative test results issued three days prior to boarding their flights, case No. 683 had provided a negative antibody test result, while Case No. 684 had not provided a result, he said.
“We can see from these cases that there have been inconsistent test results ... so we are not considering loosening the mandatory home quarantine regulation,” Chen said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS