A COVID-19 “travel bubble” between Taiwan and Palau is expected to resume on Saturday at the earliest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 12 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and two deaths.
The “travel bubble” — which allows travel between Taiwan and Palau with eased disease prevention requirements — was launched in April, but suspended the following month due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan.
The center received and reviewed documents on reopening the travel bubble, and the disease prevention measures are unchanged from before, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Photo courtesy of KKday
Under the arrangement, Taiwanese travelers to Palau would need a negative result on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test administered at the airport to board the plane, he said.
They would be given a saliva PCR test at the airport upon their return to Taiwan and need to undergo five days of enhanced self-health management, followed by another PCR test and nine more days of self-health management if they test negative, he added.
Upon their return, travelers could practice the enhanced self-health management at home on the condition that there is only one person per room, or they can go to a quarantine hotel, Chen said.
As Palau is COVID-19 free, travelers to the country should wear a mask when in public, he added.
Asked whether the first people to fly to Palau under the reopened travel bubble would depart on Saturday, Chen said: “That is similar to what I’ve heard.”
Chen reported 12 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, four imported cases and two deaths.
Five of the 12 local cases tested positive during isolation or upon its completion, he said, adding that the infection sources of seven cases had been identified, while three were unclear and two were being investigated.
New Taipei City reported the most cases, with six, followed by Taipei with four and Keelung with two, Chen said.
The cases in New Taipei City include a cluster in an apartment building that spread to the surrounding neighborhood.
The city’s Department of Health said that three residents of a building in Yonghe District (永和) had been among the cases reported in the past two weeks and that expanded testing in the community discovered two more cases, which were reported yesterday.
The city has placed 231 of the building’s residents under home isolation, with an offer of free accommodation at a quarantine hotel for anyone unable to follow the one person per room rule, the department said, adding that meals are to be delivered to those in isolation.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS