TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday (Aug. 25) said that Taiwan is eyeing late September as the likely timeframe to ease its border restrictions.

The same day, CECC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) convener Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) told BaoDao Radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) that Taiwan's border restrictions are based on "political considerations." When asked by Mirror Media to comment on Lee's assertion in an interview, CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) said the decision on when to open Taiwan's borders is based both on expert assessments and practical considerations.

Wang said that based on expert analysis, the fatality rate of Omicron subvariant BA.5 is not higher than that of BA.2 and more than 99.5% of cases are mild or asymptomatic, making the situation relatively safe. However, Wang pointed out that practically speaking, due to BA.5's greater transmissibility, the number of cases will rise and this will cause public concern and that assessments need to be made because this involves everyone.

As for when Taiwan's borders will open, Wang said the CECC predicted the new wave of COVID cases caused by BA.5 would start in late August and that has turned out to be the case. He said border restrictions will be lifted after the cases peak and a downward trend begins, which is estimated to be late September.

The CECC head emphasized that border restrictions have been continuously eased, but adjustments have been made on an incremental basis. Wang cited raising the weekly quota of arriving passengers, and allowing "one person per room," ending the 48-hour pre-arrival COVID test requirement, as examples.

Wang estimated that this wave of infections will peak and start to decline at some point between late September and early October. Wang said the CECC predicts that late September is when border controls can be eased, or early October at the latest.

He noted the center is not setting a target in terms of daily case counts, as it believes the exact number of cases is no longer that important. Rather, Wang said the key indicator will be evidence that cases have peaked, and a downward trend has begun.