The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is moving toward cutting the quarantine period for individuals with COVID-19 and their close contacts from 10 days to seven, following a meeting between Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (???) and key local government leaders Saturday.
Chen, who is also head of the CECC, said at a press briefing Saturday afternoon that the proposed cut had garnered the support of municipal leaders in Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, and Hualien County during a virtual meeting with the health minister earlier in the day.
The six administrative areas have been listed as high-risk COVID-19 areas since mid-April.
Daily new domestic cases across Taiwan have risen from 104 on April 1 to 4,126 on Saturday, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began.
The CECC will hold another meeting on Monday to discuss cutting the number of days and other potential changes to quarantine-related measures, before presenting them to an expert panel convened by the center for the implementation of the new quarantine policy, Chen said.
Taiwan first shortened the quarantine period for arrivals from abroad, infected individuals, and those who are listed as their contacts from 14 days to 10 on March 7, and has since allowed home isolation for some patients who present mild or no symptoms.
It has also simplified measures, such as test requirements, amid the rapid rise of domestic cases.
The proposal to shorten the number of days in isolation has been made in response to the Omicron variant of the virus, which was linked to most domestic cases this year, and the large portion of mild and asymptomatic infections of the variant, Chen said.
Of the 22,256 domestic cases recorded in Taiwan between Jan. 1 and April 22, 99.62 percent were mild or asymptomatic infections, and 24 of the 85 individuals who developed moderate or severe infections no longer needed to be quarantined, according to the CECC. Four patients among this year's seven severe cases died, CECC data showed.
In addition to further shortening the quarantine period, the six local government heads also agreed on simplifying contact tracing undertaken by local health authorities to minimize the impact of the current surge in cases on the economy and people's daily lives, Chen said.
Once the details are finalized, contact tracing will only focus on co-habitants of a confirmed case, as well as the infected individual's classmates and people working in the same space, according to Chen.
The time period to be examined in contact tracing will be cut from four days before an individual is confirmed to be infected or begins to have symptoms to two days, he added.
Chen also urged infected individuals to help with the government's contact tracing work by notifying their friends and relatives, school, and workplace once their infection is confirmed.
Taiwan already suspended contact tracing in imported cases, unless they are connected to infections transmitted locally, when the government announced the adoption of a new strategy that aims at preventing severe COVID-19 cases with targeted use of medical resources on April 7.
The CECC later expanded the requirement of showing proof of three COVID-19 vaccine shots to people working at a wide range of places, such as schools, movie theaters, and conference and banquet venues, and for visits to gyms and participating in religious events, starting Friday.
To date, Taiwan has confirmed 51,298 COVID-19 cases since early 2020, including 40,977 domestically-transmitted infections, while 856 deaths from the disease have been recorded.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel