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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 CECC to raise cap on travelers for holiday season
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, speaks at a center news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
By Chiu Chih-jou / Staff reporter, with CNA
From Dec. 1, the cap on inbound travelers is to be raised to 200,000 people per week, as the number of international arrivals is expected to increase during the winter holidays, the Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） announced yesterday.
“We have seen significant growth in outbound and inbound travelers since the government on Oct. 13 lifted the quarantine requirement for inbound travelers and increased the cap on international arrivals to 150,000,” said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang （王必勝）, who heads the center. “Last week, the number of international arrivals rose 12 percent to 92,000, while the number of outbound travelers jumped 13 percent to 78,000.”
“Considering that Taiwan and other countries have been steadily opening borders, and the Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year holidays are coming soon, more people are expected to travel overseas and return to the country. Therefore, we have decided to raise the number of international arrivals allowed each week to help people make travel arrangements,” Wang said.
Wang made the announcement after Premier Su Tseng-chang （蘇貞昌） earlier yesterday morning held an interdepartmental meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he said that with the holidays arriving, the center should monitor changes in the number of outbound and inbound travelers, and adjust disease prevention measures accordingly so that people can plan their trips.
Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng （羅秉成） quoted Su as saying during the meeting that he public is now aware of the importance of disease prevention due to the center’s guidance over the past three years.
The isolation period for COVID-19 cases was yesterday reduced from seven to five days, and the three-shot vaccine requirement for workers in several high-risk fields was lifted.
Under the new isolation policy, known as “5+n,” those with COVID-19 must quarantine for five days, after which they can resume their normal activities if they test negative for the virus.
People who test positive after five days are not required to quarantine, but must follow self-health management rules until they test negative, for a maximum of seven days, the center said.
The regulation requiring workers in 24 high-risk fields to receive at least three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine originally applied to teachers, workers in correctional facilities and funeral homes, and people in categories 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the government’s COVID-19 vaccine priority list, which included health and epidemic prevention workers, airport staff and soldiers.
Taiwan yesterday reported 16,619 new COVID-19 cases, including 41 imported ones, as well as 40 deaths from the disease.
The 16,578 new domestic cases represented a weekly increase of 0.2 percent, the center said.
CECC officials have said that they expect to start lifting the outdoor mask mandate later this month, starting with outdoor settings.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
