Fully vaccinated people who choose the “7+7 (+7)” quarantine option upon arrival in Taiwan would not have to pay for the required COVID-19 rapid tests, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
The “7+7 (+7)” quarantine plan, one of two new options for people arriving in Taiwan around the Lunar New Year holiday, would allow them to spend the first half of their 14-day quarantine period at a government facility or designated hotel.
They would have to take a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival and on the sixth day after their arrival, after which they would be allowed to quarantine at home for another seven days, if they test negative, the center said on Friday.
While in home quarantine, they would be required to take a rapid test on the 10th day after their arrival, followed by one more PCR test on the 13th or last day of the two-week quarantine period, it added.
Those with negative results for all tests would then be required to practice enhanced self-health management for another seven days.
The “7+7 (+7)” quarantine option was designed for people who have been fully inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine approved by the WHO or Taiwanese health authorities, and is aimed at ensuring that there is enough accommodation ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6, the center said.
Taiwan currently has only 26,000 quarantine rooms, but about 40,000 people are expected to arrive for the holiday, the center said.
Initially, the center had said that people would have to pay for the rapid test they are required to take on the 10th day of the “7+7 (+7)” quarantine plan.
However, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, on Friday said that the government would cover the costs of the rapid tests, to ensure the safety of returning travelers and the people living with them.
The center hopes to guarantee that those in quarantine remain in a sealed off environment, and it would like to avoid having to test people living with them because they came into contact with each other, he said.
The other quarantine option offered by the center is the “10+4 (+7)” plan, under which people arriving in Taiwan would be allowed to spend the final four days of quarantine in either an individual residence, or a shared residence with fully vaccinated individuals, as long as the traveler has their own room with an en suite bathroom.
Under the plan, the person in quarantine must test negative in a PCR test on either the ninth or 10th day of their quarantine, and one day before they complete their quarantine, before they can be allowed out of their room, the center said, adding that they must isolate at home for another four days.
The “10+4 (+7)” policy does not require travelers to have been fully vaccinated for at least two weeks, but they must spend their last four days of quarantine in a home where the other residents have been fully vaccinated for at least two weeks.
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