Foreigners non-residents might be allowed to enter Taiwan as early as the second half of this year, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said yesterday.
Calling it the earliest possible time for a more general opening of the border, Chen said it would depend on the COVID-19 situation.
Taiwan currently only allows Taiwanese and foreign residents to enter the nation.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
The Ministry of Economic Affairs would be involved in deciding whether a distinction would be made between business travelers and tourists, Chen said.
The statement came after the CECC announced that mandatory quarantines for arrivals would be shortened to 10 days from 14 days and business travelers could apply for entry permits that would allow them to enter the nation from next month.
Should the COVID-19 booster shot coverage reach 50 percent and auxiliary measures be put in place by the middle of next month, it is “very possible” that Taiwan reopens its borders further, the center said.
Taiwan yesterday reported 14 new domestic COVID-19 cases, including 10 linked to a real-estate agency cluster in Taipei.
Two of them — parents of real-estate agents — are in their 50s and were confirmed to have the disease on Wednesday.
They had respective cycle threshold (Ct) values of 32.8 and 31.7, while their daughter had a Ct value of 34.5 in her first positive COVID-19 test and 37.7 in her second, indicating that the family is the source of the cluster and likely also infected an interior designer in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), Chen said.
Four of the domestic cases tested positive during quarantine, including the girlfriend of an employee at the Lao Chiang food and beverage store in Kaohsiung and the daughter of a Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport security guard, Chen said.
Two cases are a married couple in Miaoli County, who were likely infected by their daughter-in-law, who tested positive on Saturday, he said.
The CECC traced the two cases to two workers at a gravel supplier in Kaohsiung, who tested positive after visiting the couple during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Taiwan yesterday also reported 54 imported cases.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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