The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday agreed to reduce the number of days for home isolation for aircrew who have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine following adjustments in the disease prevention policy for local residents.
The new home-isolation policy for cabin crew was announced after Pilots Union Taoyuan on Tuesday threatened to stage a sit-in protest at the center if it refuses to shorten the home-isolation period for pilots and flight attendants to three days, as it has for local residents who are listed as close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
At present, cabin crew are required to isolate for five days and observe self-health management guidelines for another five days if they have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Those who have received fewer than three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine must isolate for five days and observe nine days of self-health management.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
On Monday, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) proposed that the new home-isolation policy for residents, which took effect on Tuesday, be applied to aircrew. It also asked the center to consider further shortening the number of days that cabin crew spend in isolation, given that pilots and flight attendants are tested frequently.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the COVID-19 infection rate of cabin crew on duty has been lower than that of inbound passengers, as more than 96 percent of them have received booster shots.
Moreover, they have to strictly adhere to disease prevention measures when they stay in hotels overseas, on flight and after they return to Taiwan, he added.
“After considering the pressure that cabin crew of Taiwanese airlines have to endure while alternating between flight assignments and home isolation, and that airlines have established a better mechanism to administer rapid tests and report test results, the home-isolation policy for cabin crew returning to Taiwan will be changed starting on Sunday,” he said.
Aircrew returning from long-haul flights should spend three days in isolation and observe four days of self-health management if they have received a booster shot at least 14 days earlier, CAA Deputy Director-General Clark Lin (林俊良) said.
They must observe the “one-person per room” principle and must not leave the room, with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test administered upon arrival and a PCR or a rapid test administered daily from the fourth to seventh days, he said.
Aircrew who have yet to receive a booster shot or who have taken a booster shot less than two weeks ago must still spend five days in isolation, with a PCR test administered on the fifth day, and follow nine days of self-health management, with a PCR test administered on the ninth and 14th days, Lin said.
Airlines must arrange a PCR test for cabin crew who choose to isolate at home upon their return to Taiwan before sending them home, he said.
Cabin crew who have received booster shots at least two weeks earlier and return from short-haul flights are to observe five days of self-health management, Lin said, adding that they would be required to take a rapid or a PCR test every five days.
Those who have yet to receive booster shots or who have taken them less than two weeks earlier should follow seven days of self-health management and take a PCR test every seven days.
The union said its members would decide whether to proceed with the planned sit-in protest at the CECC.
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