The Ministry of Science and Technology has launched a digital tool that allows people to see which countries are safe to visit based on the number of COVID-19 infections reported in them.
The tool, called “World Social Distancing Pedometer,” shows the number of “steps” by which Taiwan should keep away from each nation.
The steps are calculated using the number of infections reported in each country, so the higher the number of cases, the more “social distance” travelers should keep from that place, said the National Center for High-performance Computing, which developed the tool.
Photo: Screen grab from the COVID-19 Dashboard Web site
The tool uses a five-color system to denote travel safety — green, light green, yellow, orange and red — the center said, adding that the data are updated every five minutes.
For example, the pedometer on Thursday last week marked Vietnam green, saying that Taiwan should take one “social distancing” step from it, followed by two steps for New Zealand, while the US was marked red, with a recommended 169,000 steps.
The pedometer will hopefully help people choose their next travel destination in a safer way, as countries around the world are gradually lifting their travel bans amid the slowing pandemic, including Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Greece and other European nations, it said.
The Central Epidemic Command Center has the final say in deciding whether flights between Taiwan and a certain country can be resumed, it added.
The pedometer, which went online last month, can be accessed on the center’s Web site at https://covid-19.nchc.org.tw.
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