THE Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) wants to relax disease prevention measures and reopen borders. The changes will be phased in gradually. The tourist board will lift travel bans to allow Taiwan's residents to return to normal life after the covid!
Taiwan's borders to reopen after next wave of COVID-19
The Central Epidemic Command Center intends to accelerate plans for the complete reopening of Taiwan's borders. The operation will take place once the next wave of COVID-19 has subsided, in October at the earliest.
President Tsai Ing-wen (่ก่ฑๆ) told the Taiwan / Taipei Tourism Expo that she had asked the Executive Yuan to draw up a timetable and draft measures for reopening the country's borders to tourism. Infection rates in neighboring countries have caused the opening of borders to be postponed, according to Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang (่่ฒๆ).
As for the Vice Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Victor Wang (็ๅฟ ๅ), he told a press conference that the center must strike a balance between pandemic control, tourism and the economy.
The CECC estimates that infection rates of the Omicron BA.5 sub-variant of SARS-CoV-2 could peak late next month or early October. He adds that infections in northern Taiwan are increasing. However, changes need to be gradual, for example by removing the "one person, one room"said Wang.
In his opinion, the possibility of allowing tourist groups and shortening quarantine will be implemented in stages. He added that the CECC had received the Tourism Bureau's draft guidelines for travel agencies managing group tours.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education and local governments have agreed on measures to be taken in the event of a pandemic in schools, the CECC said. For the first four weeks, if anyone in a class is diagnosed with COVID-19, the entire class must be canceled or must study remotely for three days, he said. He added that students will undergo rapid screening tests if a case is detected in their school.
The CECC has also announced that vaccinations for young children will begin next Saturday.
Boosting the tourism industry
The tourism office has stipulated disease prevention guidelines for inbound and outbound tours. It has also organized training sessions for tour guides. The domestic tourism subsidy program is a "warm-up exercise" for operators to prepare them to welcome foreign travelers, Wang said.
Tourism Bureau Director General Chang Shi-chung (ๅผต้ซ่ฐ) said the Bureau had yet to finalize the draft proposal to lift the travel ban. This concerns travel outside the country as well as inside. The Bureau will propose two options, he said. These are to allow international travelers to visit the country before allowing Taiwanese tourists to travel abroad, or to lift the bans on outbound and inbound tourists simultaneously.
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