Free government-funded COVID-19 rapid test kits are to be offered to outbound and inbound international travelers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport starting today, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said the policy is being implemented in response to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases, locally and internationally, and the expected increase in international travelers ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
He said COVID-19 rapid test kits would be offered at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for both outbound and inbound travelers, and each traveler can pick up a pack — consisting of four or five rapid test kits — at one of the four designated stations at the airport.
Photo: CNA
The four stations are at the departure hall and arrival hall of the airport’s Terminal One and Terminal Two, Lo said, adding that the test kits can be picked up between 7am and 10:30pm every day until the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Travelers are not obliged to take the rapid test kits, nor are they required to take the test, but the test kits are provided to conveniently test for COVID-19 if they experience cold or flu-like symptoms during their trip or after they have returned, he said.
The policy is not being implemented at other airports in the nation, as about 90 percent of international travelers arrive or leave from the airport in Taoyuan, Lo said, adding that the policy could be extended depending on supply and demand, as well as the COVID-19 situation.
Meanwhile, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said 360 hospitalized local COVID-19 cases were reported last week, slightly more than the 325 cases the previous week, and 38 deaths were also reported.
He said 98 percent of the hospitalized cases last week did not get the new XBB 1.5 vaccine and genome sequencing data from the past four weeks show that the EG.5 subvariant is still the dominant strain spreading locally, accounting for about 69 percent of cases.
The global positivity rate of COVID-19 is increasing, reaching 14.9 percent in the week between Dec. 24 and Saturday, Guo said.
There were 109,394 hospital visits for flu-like symptoms last week, 20 severe flu complications and four deaths, he said.
Lo said there are still about 260,000 doses of government-funded flu vaccines available, so the CDC encourages eligible recipients to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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