More testing facilities are to be added at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport tomorrow in compliance with the Central Epidemic Command Center’s tightened measures to combat the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said yesterday.
The center announced on Thursday last week that, from 12pm on Friday, all international travelers are required to undergo polymerase chain reaction tests (PCR) upon entering the nation.
Travelers who have not visited high-risk countries in the past two weeks are required to take a deep-throat saliva test and a PCR test upon arrival at an airport or a seaport before being transported to a quarantine hotel or quarantine facility.
Those arriving from high-risk countries — Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Peru or the UK — are given PCR tests once they have arrived at a central quarantine facility.
A total of 416 travelers arrived on eight flights from the US and Canada between 4am and 5am yesterday, the largest number of arrivals since the airport implemented the new disease prevention measures, TIAC said.
Tests for all travelers were completed within three hours, the airport operator said.
Yesterday, the first arrival took a PCR test at 4:50am after their flight landed at about 4:20am, the company said, adding that airport security then guided passengers to specific disease prevention vehicles to be taken to quarantine facilities.
When there were fewer passengers around, cleaning crews disinfected the waiting areas at airport terminals, as well as areas that travelers had walked through, TIAC said.
The company provided 246 seats at waiting areas to accommodate travelers and arranged 556 taxis, 120 rental cars and 22 buses to take them to quarantine facilities, it added.
“We have been seeking ways to ensure that people proceed to the testing facilities in an orderly fashion and to shorten their waiting time,” said TIAC president Jerry Dan (但昭壁), discussing why PCR tests went smoothly yesterday.
By tomorrow, the airport would raise the number of COVID-19 screening rooms in its two terminals from 10 to 36, with each having 18 rooms, the company said, adding that it is expected to greatly enhance the airport’s screening capacity.
Personnel conducting PCR tests at the airport are prearranged based on the number of flights and number of passengers on those flights reported by airlines the day before, said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center.
Deployment of personnel would be adjusted, depending on the situation, Chen added.
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