People can get COVID-19 rapid screening results via the National Health Insurance Express App, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it stressed the importance of not taking public transportation and staying away from public places within three days after being tested.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, made the remarks at the CECC’s daily briefing.
The CECC and the National Health Insurance Administration have updated the app to allow people to access their COVID-19 rapid screening results, which should help make the process less stressful, he said, adding that those with a positive result will also be informed by phone as before.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said people should refrain from using public transportation, wear a mask indoors and avoid public places within three days after being tested.
The instructions are typically given to people by the hospital that performs the screening, Chuang said in response to reports that a Keelung resident, who later tested positive for COVID-19, had taken a train to Hualien two days after being screened, but before receiving the result.
Chuang said that the Keelung resident was tested on Tuesday, meaning they should not have used public transportation until yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Railways Administration is to contact people who were in the two cars that the Keelung resident had entered and ask them to practice self-health management, he said.
Meanwhile, under the national level 3 COVID-19 alert issued on Wednesday, people are required to wear a mask at all times outside their homes or face a fine of NT$3,000 to NT$15,000.
However, questions have been raised about how the rules should be enforced, particularly over activities such as driving and eating.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the CECC, said that masks are required when two or more people are in a vehicle.
The CECC and local governments agreed that a driver alone in an enclosed vehicle does not need to wear a mask, as they pose little risk of transmission, but masks are required as soon as a second person is aboard, Chen Tsung-yen said.
Workers on construction sites may eat or drink unmasked in a socially distanced area onsite, which employers must provide, he said.
While people are allowed to lower their mask to drink, the CECC has banned smoking in public areas during the level 3 alert.
Repeated breaches of masking rules — including using a drink as an excuse to not be masked — is punishable by a fine, the CECC said.
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi, Yang Mien-chieh and CNA
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