Temporary COVID-19 on-arrival testing requirements for arrivals from China have been extended until Feb. 6, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said in a statement on Friday.
The policy applies to all passengers from China, whether arriving by air or sea.
Looser measures applying to arrivals from Hong Kong and Macau are also being extended until the same date. Those passengers must obtain a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result within 48 hours before departure, or a negative rapid antigen test result within 24 hours prior to boarding.
Photo: CNA
The CECC said the on-arrival testing positivity rates from China have dropped from about 25 percent, when the program began on Jan. 1, to only about 2 to 4 percent in the past few days.
The center is continuing the program to monitor for new variants given that the spread of the virus in China remains significant, the CECC said.
Meanwhile, the CECC yesterday reported 27,159 newly confirmed local cases, a 30.7 percent rise over the same day last week.
It also reported 285 imported cases and 20 deaths from the disease.
Of the newly confirmed deaths, a younger case is a man in his 40s who had diabetes and hypertension, and experienced a fever and sore throat. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 29.
He was taken to a hospital on Dec. 31 due to difficulty breathing. He was diagnosed with pneumonia, respiratory distress, diabetic ketoacidosis and acute kidney failure, and was immediately admitted to an intensive care unit and put on a ventilator, the CECC said.
The man died of lung and liver abscesses on Sunday last week.
Separately, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday said that his government plans to downgrade COVID-19 to the equivalent category as common infectious diseases, such as seasonal influenza, and ease restrictions. The relaxed measures are to take effect on May 8.
Asked if Taiwan would follow Japan’s lead, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that among plans to be discussed after the Lunar New Year holiday is to only require physicians to report moderate and severe cases, with home isolation no longer being compulsory for mild, unreported cases.
However, Taiwan is not considering downgrading COVID-19 from being a category 5 notifiable communicable disease, he added.
Isolation regulations and treatment subsidies for reportable cases are among issues that would be discussed after the holidays, Chuang said.
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Monday said he would not attend the official Double Ten National Day celebrations for the first time this year, as its English name, “Taiwan National Day,” implies “Taiwan independence.” Writing on Facebook, Ma said he has attended every National Day celebration since entering public service 40 years ago, but “with an exceedingly heavy heart,” has decided to reject this year’s invitation. For the past three years, the government under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has used “Taiwan National Day” for the event’s official English-language title, leaving the “Republic of China” nowhere to be found, he said. The move
RUNWAY UPGRADES: Airports and ports mainly scattered around southwestern Japan are being given major overhauls, primarily serving as civilian-use facilities Japan has chosen 33 airports and ports as candidates for improvement to enhance military capabilities, with a particular focus on infrastructure that could be utilized in a Taiwan emergency, according to a recent report in Japan’s Nikkei Shimbun. Citing the Japanese government’s fiscal budget proposal for next year, the newspaper said Toyko is to name some facilities as essential bases and receive funding for upgrades in line with the revamped national security strategy published last year. According to an unofficial policy document drafted last month and reviewed by the Nikkei, the Japanese government designated 14 airports and 19 ports for improvement, including