The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported two imported cases of COVID-19 as it announced detailed rules for the three quarantine options for travelers arriving in Taiwan from Dec. 14 to Feb. 14.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said no local COVID-19 infections or deaths were reported yesterday.
The two imported cases are two men, aged 20 to 40, who arrived from Cambodia and Ireland, he said, adding that one tested positive upon arrival and the other upon ending quarantine.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy chief of the CECC’s medical response division, said both men were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Sinopharm vaccine.
Chang addressed confusion about the three quarantine options for travelers arriving in Taiwan between Dec. 14 and Feb. 14, explaining the rules for each in detail.
The three options all include mandatory 14-day quarantine, followed by seven days of self-health management, and all travelers must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test at the airport.
Chuang said people who choose the current quarantine “14+0 (+7)” option — quarantine at a hotel or self-paid centralized quarantine facility for 14 days — are subject to a second PCR test upon ending quarantine, and they are required to take a government-funded at-home rapid test upon ending self-health management.
People who select the “10+4 (+7)” option — quarantining at a hotel or centralized quarantine facility for the first 10 days, followed by four days at home if they test negative before leaving the hotel or facility — would be required to take two more PCR tests, one on the 10th day of quarantine and one before ending quarantine, he said.
People who opt for the “7+7 (+7)” option for fully vaccinated individuals — quarantining at a hotel or centralized quarantine facility for the first seven days (168 hours), followed by seven days at home if they test negative before leaving the hotel or facility — are required to take a self-paid at-home test on the 10th day of quarantine and a PCR test upon ending quarantine, Chuang said.
For the “10+4 (+7)” and the “7+7 (+7)” options, quarantined individuals would not be required to take another at-home rapid test during their self-health management period, CECC information showed.
It is suggested that people who choose those two options quarantine alone at home, or if they choose to follow the “one person per room” rule, those living in the same house must also be fully vaccinated, Chuang said.
A big difference between the two options is that under the “7+7 (+7)” rule people living in the same household as the quarantined individual would be subject to “enhanced self-health management” for the seven days that the individual is quarantined at home, and they would also need to practice seven days of self-health management along with that individual, he said.
People living with a quarantined individual would be required to take two self-paid rapid at-home tests on the 10th day after that individual arrived in Taiwan, as well as when they are about to end quarantine, he added.
Coresidents who are practicing “enhanced self-health management” cannot share a room, bathroom or have a meal with the quarantined individual, and are banned from taking public transport or visiting crowded locations such as restaurants and scenic spots, he said.
They are also required to delay non-urgent visits to healthcare facilities, register their contact details and keep a record of their daily activities, he said.
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