《TAIPEI TIMES》 Bureau eases virus rules for tour groups

CLOSE CALLS: If a tourist tests positive, only family members they live with would be considered as close contacts, not other members of the tour, the CECC said

By Shelley Shan and Lee I-chia / Staff reporters

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People who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot can join domestic tour groups if they present a negative rapid test result taken within 48 hours before departure, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.

The bureau revised its disease prevention guidelines for domestic tour groups, which took effect yesterday, after the Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） eased booster shot requirements for domestic travelers.

The CECC requirement, which was implemented on April 22, was widely criticized by travel agents, as they only had one week to adapt to the change.

Nevertheless, the vaccination rate for booster shots had reached nearly 70 percent as of Thursday last week, the bureau said, adding that the rate is almost 93 percent when accounting for the required interval between doses.

“The CECC approved the revised guidelines after considering the repercussions of the booster requirement on the tourism industry, rising vaccination rates and a slight drop in COVID-19 cases,” the bureau said.

Waiving the booster shot requirement would encourage people to travel domestically, it said, adding that travel agents must monitor tourists’ temperatures, and ensure they wear masks and disinfect their hands during the trips.

Tour guides must also not exceed capacity limits at destinations, it said.

Despite the easing of the requirement, tour guides and travelers should still get a booster shot to enhance their immunity against COVID-19, it said.

At the CECC’s news conference yesterday, Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Trust Lin （林信任） said that certain situations would exempt tour groups from the booster shot requirement, such as if the members of the group are all family, company employees or classmates.

People younger than 12, or those aged 12 to 17 who have received a second dose of a vaccine, or have received a second dose, but have contracted COVID-19 within three months, are also exempt.

Asked about response measures if a group member tests positive during a tour, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo （羅一鈞）, deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that a person who tests positive with a rapid test, which is verified by a doctor, would be classified as a confirmed case, but their close contacts would only include family members who live together.

If other tour group members stay in the same room or sit next to a confirmed case, they would not be identified as a close contact under current regulations, but if the local government considers such a case part of a cluster of infections, it could ask the travelers to take COVID-19 tests and isolate, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES