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.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS