News
Covid alert lowered to level 2
Courtesy of ICRT and ECCT staff writers
The government will lower the Level 3 Covid-19 alert to Level 2, starting from Tuesday, 27 July.
That means the cap on the number of people gathering indoors will increase to 50 from the current five, and to 100 outdoors.
Officials say if the restaurant sector put in place proper safety measures, including staggered seating and plexiglass dividers among tables, it can reopen as well.
Cabinet spokesman Luo Bing-cheng says the goal is to bring businesses back to revive the economy.
Restaurants across Taiwan will resume dine-in services on 27 July, with the exception of Taipei and New Taipei cities as well as neighbouring Yilan county.
Taiwan's preschools and day care centres will be allowed to reopen under certain conditions when the Covid-19 alert level is lowered if more than 80% of their teachers and administrative personnel have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. However, certain facilities and activities will remain banned. For example, swimming pools will remain closed. As for reopening of school campuses, kindergartens and venues like basketball courts, the CECC will leave the decision to local officials.
However, Taiwan will retain strict border controls. Health Minister Chen has said that although Taiwan would not relax border controls, authorities will begin to think about a better way to manage people who are fully vaccinated, although he did not elaborate.
Because of the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus abroad, Taiwan has implemented stricter quarantine rules since late June.
They require all arrivals to spend their 14-day quarantine in government facilities or quarantine hotels and prohibit people from isolating at home, which many Taiwanese citizens had done previously after returning home from trips abroad.
In conjunction with the Level 3 alert, the government restricted entry into Taiwan to only Taiwanese citizens and foreign nationals holding a Taiwan residence certificate or who obtained special entry permission to enter the country. They also barred travellers from transiting through Taiwan.
