The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that it is considering eliminating quarantine for travelers from next month, but “chances are slim” that the change would come early in the month.
The center was responding to a table of “suggestions on border control and opening” that had been circulating online, outlining two stages, with a first stage that would have been announced on Monday taking effect on Sept. 26, while the second stage would have been announced on Oct. 3 to take effect on Oct. 10.
According to the table, the first stage would require all inbound travelers to undergo a three-day home quarantine followed by a four-day monitoring period, but the “one person per household” principle during the first three days would be eased to “one person per room.”
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The table shows that the rule would have been further relaxed to a seven-day monitoring period with no home quarantine required at the second stage.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesman, said that the table was a draft plan and would be adjusted.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, said that the center has been discussing the border opening plan with other ministries as the COVID-19 situation is gradually being brought under control worldwide.
The timing to open the border depends on COVID-19 caseloads, which have topped 40,000 cases for four consecutive days, he said.
The center estimates that the outbreak’s peak might be reached within the next two weeks, he said.
Ministries and the public need time to prepare for the many changes a border reopening would bring, he said.
Commenting on rumors that the ban on outbound tour groups would also be lifted next month, and that the inbound traveler cap would be raised to 20,000 per day, Wang said that regulations regarding such limitations — along with visas, quarantine hotels and disease prevention taxis — must be contemplated further before easing border controls.
Separately, the first shipment of the second-generation Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccine containing 804,000 doses arrived in Taiwan yesterday evening, Wang said, adding that the expiry date is March 29 next year.
The vaccine targets the original 2019 strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron subvariant BA.1, and has been shown to protect against the BA.2 and BA.5 subvariants.
Wang said the vaccines are to be distributed to local governments from Saturday next week, and that people aged 65 or older and immunocompromised adults would be the first to receive it as a booster.
Those at high risk of contracting COVID-19 — including people aged 50 to 64, adults who need to travel overseas, and workers in airports and medical facilities — would be the next priority group, he said.
Another shipment of about 800,000 doses is due to arrive tomorrow.
The CECC announced 46 deaths from COVID-19 and 41,430 new domestic cases yesterday.
The deceased ranged in age from 30 to older than 90, and all had underlying health issues such as cancer or kidney-related diseases, CECC data showed.
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and
RSS