A total of 84 healthcare facilities have been designated to provide COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that people planning on traveling abroad can pay for themselves, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported six more imported cases.
The list of sites, as well as the examination times and fees, have been published on the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Web site.
The PCR tests cost between NT$5,000 and NT$7,000, and 37 of the facilities can provide rapid testing services, providing same-day results, the CECC said.
Photo: CNA
Fifty-seven of the facilities would provide the testing services during the Lunar New Year holiday, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC.
People planning to travel abroad are advised to check what documentation and formatting of the test reports are required by their destination before getting a test, he said.
Chen said the latest imported cases were three Indonesian migrant workers, a Frenchman, a Cypriot and a Taiwanese who is a permanent resident of the US.
Two Indonesian women, cases No. 681 and No. 682, arrived in Taiwan for work on Nov. 17, with one in her 40s and the other in her 20s, he said.
They tested negative during a special project on Friday last week that gave PCR tests to 939 Indonesian migrant workers housed in centralized quarantine facilities, but when tested again before their quarantine period ended on Monday their tests came back positive.
Case No. 683 is an Indonesian man in his 20s who arrived on Nov. 14 and whose company paid for him to be tested on Sunday as his stay at a quarantine hotel was ending, Chen said.
While the man had no COVID-19 symptoms, his test came back positive yesterday, he added.
Case No. 684 is a Taiwanese in his 30s who returned on Sunday last week and began suffering a mild abnormal sense of smell later that day while he was at a quarantine hotel, Chen said.
The man’s symptoms worsened two days later, so he reported his condition and was tested on Thursday last week, and the result came back positive yesterday, he said.
Fifteen passengers who sat near Case No. 684 on the flight to Taiwan have been put under home isolation, Chen said.
Case No. 685, the Cypriot, arrived on Sunday from the US for a business trip, but had a temperature of 38.6°C upon arrival at the airport, so he was asked to take a test and stay at a centralized quarantine center while he waited for the result, which returned positive yesterday, Chen said.
Case No. 686 is a Frenchman in his 50s, who had been invited by a local company to attend a business event. He arrived on Nov. 20 after transiting through Turkey on Nov. 19, Chen said.
The man developed a sore throat on Friday last week at a quarantine hotel and was tested on Monday, and the result came back positive yesterday, he said.
Four of the six had provided negative test results issued three days prior to boarding their flights, case No. 683 had provided a negative antibody test result, while Case No. 684 had not provided a result, he said.
“We can see from these cases that there have been inconsistent test results ... so we are not considering loosening the mandatory home quarantine regulation,” Chen said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS