TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Central Epidemic Command Center head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said on Wednesday (Nov. 3) that the center had on Tuesday approved the Ministry of Labor’s (MOL) proposal to resume entry of migrant workers into the country, effective immediately, RTI reported.

As numbers of Taiwan’s COVID-19 cases have been hovering around single digits, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said Tuesday that her ministry had earlier sent the proposal to the CECC for approval.

Chen said during a hearing at the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee of the country’s legislature Wednesday, “The CECC signed off on the measures related to the entry of migrant workers into the country yesterday, and their entry can be processed immediately.”

However, the CECC head suggested that the number of migrant workers entering the country be decreased after Dec. 14, when the quarantine for arrivals is to be relaxed, and entry be temporarily suspended during the Lunar New Year, when an estimated 40,000 overseas Taiwanese will return.