TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Monday (Nov. 28) announced that it will end its quota on the number of passengers allowed to enter the country per week on Dec. 10.

On June 11, the CECC announced the shortened "3+4" quarantine formula, but imposed a 25,000-person weekly cap on arrivals. On July 7, the CECC announced the weekly quota would be raised to 40,000, and then it was raised to 50,000 on Aug. 22.

As part of its first stage of opening borders, Taiwan raised the cap to 60,000 on Sept. 29. In the second stage of eased border restrictions, the CECC raised the quota to 150,000 on Oct. 13, when mandatory quarantine for inbound travelers ended.

CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) on Nov. 14 stated that the weekly limit would be raised to 200,000 on Dec. 1.

At a press conference on Monday (Nov. 28), Wang pointed out that although the number of inbound passengers continues to increase, there were only 281 imported COVID cases reported over the past week (Nov. 21-27), a decrease of 12.2% from the previous week, while the number of local cases has also continued to drop. In addition, given that New Year's Eve, Christmas, and Lunar New Year are rapidly approaching, there will be a surge of international travel in and out of Taiwan.

Therefore, Wang said that the CECCC has decided the weekly quota will be fully terminated on Dec. 10 to allow Taiwanese living overseas to arrange their trips back home in advance. The CECC advises inbound passengers to cooperate in taking the four doses of home rapid antigen test kits upon arrival and self-test during the seven-day period of self-health monitoring.

If a passenger has suspected COVID symptoms within 14 days before entry, they are advised to proactively inform airport quarantine staff upon arrival in Taiwan. They will be asked to take a saliva test and be transported to their residence by epidemic prevention vehicles.