Starting today, all arrivals to Taiwan are to be tested three times for COVID-19 before the end of their quarantine period.
The policy is in response to the global spread of the more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
People arriving by airplane or ship after noon today are to be subject to the policy in an effort to reinforce the health monitoring of international arrivals, the center said.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
Upon arrival at an airport or port, people who have traveled to “key high-risk countries” in the past 14 days would be checked into a government-funded centralized quarantine facility, where they would stay for 14 days, it said.
The arrivals would be given a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival and at the end of their quarantine period, it said.
As an extra precaution, they would be required to take a rapid COVID-19 test using an at-home test kit between days 10 and 12 of their quarantine, it said.
Photo: CNA
The center has listed seven key high-risk countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Peru and the UK.
Arrivals who have not visited these countries in the past 14 days would also need to take a PCR test upon arrival, it said.
A designated vehicle would then take them to a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, where they would complete a 14-day quarantine at their expense, it said.
They would take a rapid home test between days 10 and 12 of their quarantine and take another PCR test before the end of the quarantine period, between days 12 and 14, the center said.
Genome sequencing would be performed for all arrivals who test positive, it added.
Experts recommended the change in policy at a meeting yesterday morning, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a daily news briefing in Taipei.
Previously, when arrivals could quarantine at home, there was the concern that if they had a false negative test result, there would be an increased risk of family members contracting COVID-19, Chen said.
However, all arrivals are now required to stay at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, he said.
Also yesterday, the CECC announced that migrant workers employed in residences would once again be allowed to switch employers, effective immediately.
However, while caregivers and domestic workers may transfer to new employers, migrant workers in other industries still cannot, it said.
The new employer would be required to arrange and pay for their employee to receive a PCR test at a healthcare facility on their first day of employment, it said.
Employers who fail to do so would be fined NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 under the Employment Service Act (就業服務法) and no longer be allowed to hire foreign workers, it said.
Brokers acting on behalf of employers who fail to observe the requirement would also be subject to a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$300,000, it added.
Transfers are being reinstated for residence-based migrant workers given an easing in the COVID-19 situation and a continued demand by people with disabilities for caregivers, Deputy Minister of Labor Wang An-pang (王安邦) said.
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