Foreigners seeking to come to Taiwan for fertility treatments are to be allowed entry from tomorrow, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on Saturday.
The restriction is to be lifted due to the time-sensitive nature of reproduction treatment, he said, as the government gradually eases border restrictions following the stabilization of the COVID-19 situation in the country.
From Aug. 1, 2020, during the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan allowed foreign nationals to enter the country for medical treatment other than non-urgent medical needs, such as medical examinations and aesthetic medicine.
However, on May 16 last year, following a spike in domestic COVID-19 cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) suspended entry applications for international medical services, with the exception of special or emergency cases, to prioritize access to medical resources for Taiwan nationals, Shih said.
As the COVID-19 situation is improving in Taiwan and the country is gradually returning to normal, it has sufficient medical care capacity, so the CECC has reopened the country to international visitors seeking fertility treatments, he said.
Whether to open the border to foreigners with non-urgent medical needs, as well as tourists, would be assessed later on, he said.
Asked why the new policy takes effect tomorrow, and not on Monday next week, when foreign business travelers are to be allowed entry into Taiwan, Shih said that the applications can be submitted earlier because making arrangements with hospitals, applying for visas and reserving quarantine hotels all take time.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, assisted reproduction accounted for about one-quarter of the international medical services provided in Taiwan, Shih said, adding that such treatment often requires multiple sessions over a long period.
Data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that in 2020, the number of international visitors seeking medical services fell 41 percent to 2.23 million people from a year earlier.
The services in 2020 generated NT$9.5 billion (US$339.03 million at the current exchange rate), with 41 percent from ASEAN member states and 18.4 percent from China, ministry data showed.
Additional reporting by CNA
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
The first tropical storm of the year in the western North Pacific, Wutip (蝴蝶), has formed over the South China Sea and is expected to move toward Hainan Island off southern China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. The agency said a tropical depression over waters near the Paracel and Zhongsha islands strengthened into a tropical storm this morning. The storm had maximum sustained winds near its center of 64.8kph, with peak gusts reaching 90kph, it said. Winds at Beaufort scale level 7 — ranging from 50kph to 61.5kph — extended up to 80km from the center, it added. Forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
RSS