TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday (March 24) announced it will move Vietnam and Singapore to its list of low-risk countries, meaning business travelers from those nations will only need to undergo five days of quarantine instead of the standard 14 days.
During his weekly press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Minister of Health and Welfare and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that because Vietnam and Singapore have met Taiwan's criteria to be categorized as low-risk for two consecutive weeks, their status has been changed from medium to low-risk. Since March 1, business travelers from low-risk countries or regions are only required to undergo five days of quarantine, while business travelers from medium-risk areas need to quarantine for seven days.
Chen said that over the past two weeks, the majority of confirmed coronavirus cases in Vietnam were imported from abroad, while the new local cases were close contacts of those who had been in quarantine. He pointed out that over the same period, Singapore has only reported two local cases.
Taking into consideration the low number of cases as well as community monitoring mechanisms in the two countries, Chen said the CECC has lowered the status of both countries to low-risk.
However, Chen said a recent spike in cases in East Timor has been severe, and many cluster infections have been reported outside of the capital of Dili, indicating the virus has proliferated in the country. Therefore, he said East Timor has been removed from the list of medium-risk countries.
Low-risk countries/regions:
New Zealand, Macau, Palau, Fiji, Brunei, Laos, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, Bhutan, Australia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Medium-risk countries/regions:
Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Mauritius.
In order to qualify for a shortened quarantine, business travelers must meet all four of the following criteria:
- The CECC declares the person can enter Taiwan.
- The length of stay is less than three months.
- Those who enter the country for short-term business-related activities (inspecting goods, after-sales service, technical guidance and training, and contract signing) have obtained the relevant documents from a company legally registered in Taiwan.
- The starting point is a country or region deemed low- to medium-risk in terms of coronavirus infections, and the visitor has no travel history to other countries or regions in the 14 days before their flight to Taiwan.
The CECC said those who meet the above four requirements should prepare the relevant supporting documents, schedule, and epidemic prevention plan provided by their company. Business travelers must also take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19 within three days of their departure for Taiwan and be prepared to present the certified negative results upon arrival.
