TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Monday (Oct. 4) announced that starting Tuesday (Oct. 5), Level 2 epidemic prevention restrictions will be lowered for entertainment venues, religious activities, and restaurants.
CECC Spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the local outbreak remains under control despite the large crowds seen over the Mid-Autumn Festival two weeks ago. Following the relaxation of outdoor mask rules announced on Sunday (Oct. 3), Chuang on Monday said there will be a further loosening of restrictions for religious gatherings, entertainment activities, and dining inside restaurants as part of the revised Level 2 alert from Oct. 5-18.
Venues epidemic prevention rules will be relaxed:
1. Video game arcades, internet cafes, MTVs, KTV clubs, board game shops, and mahjong parlors to reopen on Oct. 5.
2. Religious gatherings:
Conditional opening of religious pilgrimages and banquets. There will no longer be a crowd size limit in houses of worship and checkerboard seating is no longer required.
3. Restaurants:
Partitions and 1.5 meters of spacing are no longer required. Toasting tables with alcohol or tea and other social interactions will be allowed. Rules on the serving of dishes at tables and in buffet lines will be relaxed.
4. Convenience stores:
Tea eggs, oden, and other foods will again become self-serve items.
5. TV news anchors:
Provided that they can maintain proper social distancing, TV news anchors no longer need to wear masks while filming.
Outdoor areas where masks no longer required
1. Workers involved in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and animal husbandry in open areas (such as fields, fish farms, mountains, and forests), do not need to wear masks but should carry masks with them and maintain a social distance from others.
2. When in mountain and forest recreation areas and on beaches, the public need not wear masks, but they should carry masks with them and maintain a social distance from others.
3. In the above-mentioned situations, if there is a gathering of people or work or activities with others, a mask should be worn.
Following leisure and entertainment venues will remain closed:
Karaoke parlors, dance halls, nightclubs, hostess bars, bars, and "barbershops" offering sexual services.
The CECC reminds the public that, with the above-mentioned exceptions, when going out masks should be worn at all times, real-name registration observed, and an appropriate social distance maintained. Places of business and public areas must implement crowd flow and volume controls. The maximum crowd limit for gatherings must follow the original regulations.
