There are plans to relax disease prevention measures on public transport systems as the COVID-19 outbreak eases in Taiwan, the Ministry of Transportation (MOTC) and Communications said yesterday, but added that the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) would decide when and how the measures would be removed.
The center has begun to lift restrictions on social events that were enforced over the past few months to help contain the outbreak, including at CPBL matches, which are allowed at most 1,000 spectators after ball games were previously played behind closed doors.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖) said that the ministry wanted to be prepared for the next stages and all disease prevention measures would remain until the CECC reviews the ministry’s proposal and approves it.
There is no timeline yet that shows when disease prevention measures would be loosened, Huang said.
The ministry’s proposal showed that disease prevention measures on public transport systems would be relaxed in four phases.
In phase 1, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) would be allowed to resume sales of unseated tickets or tickets with no reserved seats on express services, the proposal says.
Requirements that passengers sit at least 1m apart, meaning there has to be an empty seat between passengers, would also be canceled, it says.
The frequency of disinfection of trains would also be reduced, it says.
In phase 2, passengers would not be required to wear masks on public transport systems, and would not be barred from eating and drinking on TRA and THSRC’s trains, with both systems allowed to resume sales of food and beverages onboard trains, it says.
Passengers would not be required to have their temperature taken before boarding, the proposal says.
In phase 3, disease prevention measures on public transport would all be lifted, it says.
In phase 4, the nation’s border controls would be loosened, which would depend on the COVID-19 outbreak easing in other countries, it says.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has instructed THSRC, the TRA, the Directorate-General of Highways, the Freeway Bureau, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Taoyuan International Airport Corp and the Port and Maritime Bureau to make preparations so that people can gradually resume a normal life as the pandemic eases, the ministry said, adding that it would discuss the plans with the CECC first.
Details have yet to be finalized, the ministry said.
The Tourism Bureau has been asked to prepare a path to recovery for the travel industry, Lin said.
“Domestic tours would need a boost from more government investment,” Lin said.
“The Tourism Bureau has been asked to decide whether a domestic travel subsidy program should be implemented,” he said.
“With summer vacation, the peak travel season, approaching, it needs to engage in extensive discussions with travel operators and experts before submitting details of such a program to the ministry,” he said.
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