From Dec. 1, the cap on inbound travelers is to be raised to 200,000 people per week, as the number of international arrivals is expected to increase during the winter holidays, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday.
“We have seen significant growth in outbound and inbound travelers since the government on Oct. 13 lifted the quarantine requirement for inbound travelers and increased the cap on international arrivals to 150,000,” said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the center. “Last week, the number of international arrivals rose 12 percent to 92,000, while the number of outbound travelers jumped 13 percent to 78,000.”
“Considering that Taiwan and other countries have been steadily opening borders, and the Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year holidays are coming soon, more people are expected to travel overseas and return to the country. Therefore, we have decided to raise the number of international arrivals allowed each week to help people make travel arrangements,” Wang said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Wang made the announcement after Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) earlier yesterday morning held an interdepartmental meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he said that with the holidays arriving, the center should monitor changes in the number of outbound and inbound travelers, and adjust disease prevention measures accordingly so that people can plan their trips.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) quoted Su as saying during the meeting that he public is now aware of the importance of disease prevention due to the center’s guidance over the past three years.
The isolation period for COVID-19 cases was yesterday reduced from seven to five days, and the three-shot vaccine requirement for workers in several high-risk fields was lifted.
Under the new isolation policy, known as “5+n,” those with COVID-19 must quarantine for five days, after which they can resume their normal activities if they test negative for the virus.
People who test positive after five days are not required to quarantine, but must follow self-health management rules until they test negative, for a maximum of seven days, the center said.
The regulation requiring workers in 24 high-risk fields to receive at least three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine originally applied to teachers, workers in correctional facilities and funeral homes, and people in categories 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine priority list, which included health and epidemic prevention workers, airport staff and soldiers.
Taiwan yesterday reported 16,619 new COVID-19 cases, including 41 imported ones, as well as 40 deaths from the disease.
The 16,578 new domestic cases represented a weekly increase of 0.2 percent, the center said.
CECC officials have said that they expect to start lifting the outdoor mask mandate later this month, starting with outdoor settings.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
RSS