Taiwan says needs to reopen, to look at easing Covid-19 quarantine rules

Taiwan will look at easing it strict Covid-19 quarantine policy as it needs to gradually resume normal life and reopen to the world , Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Monday.

Since the pandemic began two years ago, Taiwan has succeeded in keeping reported cases of Covid-19 below 20,000, having enforced a blanket two-week quarantine for everyone arriving on the island even as large parts of the rest of the world have ditched theirs.

Speaking at a meeting with senior health officials, Su said that even though there could be further domestic infections the government was “quite confident” in its anti-pandemic measures.

“The government must also take into account livelihoods and economic development, gradually return to normal life, and step out to the world,” his office cited him as saying.

On the precondition that there are sufficient medical supplies and preparations and that the vaccination rate continues to rise, Su said he had asked the Central Epidemic Command Centre to “consider whether reasonable and appropriate adjustments” should be made to the quarantine policy and entry of businesspeople.

The statement did not elaborate.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, who leads the command centre in charge of fighting the pandemic, has said quarantine could be cut to 10 days, but that depends on increasing the number of people given a booster shot.

About 30% of Taiwan's 23.5 million people have now had a booster dose, a figure that is gradually rising.

Taiwan has never gone into full lockdown during the pandemic and has never closed its borders, though arrivals have generally been limited to citizens and foreign residence permit holders.

Taiwan is now dealing with a handful of new domestic Covid-19 cases a day, all as a result of the more infectious Omicron variant, but officials have said they are confident they can contain those outbreaks.

Reuters