Rapid COVID-19 testing stations should be established at Taiwan’s airports and harbors to protect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties from an outbreak, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday.
The caucus made the call at an online news conference at the Legislative Yuan a day after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) overturned an order by the Kinmen County Government requiring arriving passengers to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result issued within three days of their flight, or undergo a rapid test at Kinmen Airport.
The CECC said the order contravened the third item of Article 37 of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法), adding that the county did not submit a written application in advance.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, has shown his disregard for the residents of Taiwan’s outlying islands, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said.
The outbreak in Taipei and New Taipei City busted the government’s “myth” of zero domestic cases, which is a challenge to Chen’s authority, KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said.
Chen’s annulment of Kinmen’s order was an attempt to restore his authority by “pulling rank” on an outlying island, Fai said.
Chen should think of the lives and property of the county’s residents, not his prestige, he added.
KMT Legislator Lee De-wei (李德維) said rapid testing is needed in airports on Taiwan proper to protect the outlying islands, adding that the government’s inattentiveness had forced Kinmen to take action to protect itself.
KMT Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the party’s call for more rapid testing stations would help detect positive cases who had slipped through the nation’s disease prevention measures.
The pandemic would do more damage to the outlying islands than Taiwan proper if the virus is allowed to spread there, he said, adding that no one would be able to take responsibility for such an outcome.
Cheng also called on the government to obtain Moderna vaccines and make free jabs available nationwide, noting that people in the US can receive Johnson & Johnson, Pzifer or Moderna vaccines free of charge.
The CECC last night said that Kinmen, Penghu and Lienchiang counties may conditionally ask travelers who meet certain criteria to voluntarily take COVID-19 tests.
The county governments can only ask travelers to cooperate voluntarily and they must propose criteria to make the request and the process for administering the tests, said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is also the CECC’s deputy head.
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