TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Consistent with his liberal approach towards COVID-19 restrictions, Penghu County Commissioner Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉) announced on Monday (Aug. 16) that several COVID-19 rules on indoor dining will be dropped from Wednesday to help businesses.

With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down, it’s time to turn the focus to reviving the economy, CNA cited Lai as saying.

From July 13 until recently, Penghu was the only place in Taiwan to allow indoor dining at eateries and restaurants provided certain conditions were met, such as partitions and social distancing.

The commissioner said Monday that on Aug. 10, Penghu also became the first municipality in the nation to relax restrictions on indoor dining for the food and beverage industry, allowing direct indoor dining for businesses without requiring them to first apply to the county government for permission.

In another move on Monday, Lai announced that beginning Aug. 18, indoor dining will be allowed across the board, while requirements for partitions and 1.5 meters of social distance between customers will be dropped to restore the original environment before the pandemic.

Penghu also canceled the rapid testing requirements for arrivals from Monday. Scenes of families and friends eating out have returned, with many restaurant owners pleased, according to the report.