TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is preparing to draw up a set of standard operating procedures (SOP) to allow foreign travel to resume during the second half of the year at the earliest, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) chief Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Wednesday (Feb. 23).
With several other countries reopening their borders, Taiwan's vaccination coverage rate rising, and new cases of COVID-19 seeming to be relatively mild, the CECC is preparing to loosen restrictions. Beginning next month, the quarantine for arriving passengers will be shortened to 10 days, and business travelers will be allowed to visit again.
Chen told a radio show Wednesday that if opening borders to business travelers proves to be successful, it will be possible to have foreign travel resume during the second half of 2022, CNA reported.
Only when the number of new infections drops, including imported cases, and the number of deaths is brought under control, will the time be right, Chen said. However, he warned of the unpredictability of COVID and pointed out that while new infections are down on a global scale, the number of deaths is not.
Countries in Asia are facing rapid increases in new COVID cases in February, with Hong Kong recording 6,000 a day, Thailand 21,000, Vietnam 50,000, Japan 69,000, and South Korea 99,000.