International travelers should be able to take polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests as soon as they arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, as it would more effectively curb community outbreaks of COVID-19, such as the nation’s first cluster involving the highly infectious Delta variant in Pingtung County, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said yesterday.
The first two confirmed cases in the cluster — a woman in her 50s and her five-year-old grandson — returned from a trip to Peru on June 6.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control had said that the Delta variant, which first emerged in India, is 40 to 60 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which was first detected in the UK. More than 70 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the UK and Israel involve the Delta variant.
Photo: CNA
From 12am on Sunday, people arriving at Taiwan’s airports or seaports who have departed from or transited through Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Israel, Peru or the UK are required to quarantine for 14 days, Cheng said at Taoyuan’s morning briefing on COVID-19.
They are also required to take two PCR tests during quarantine, he said.
Quarantine for inbound travelers is an important measure to prevent community transmission of the Delta variant, he said, adding that airport quarantine systems should be changed in light of the latest COVID-19 developments.
Photo: CNA
“If requiring tourists from high-risk countries to undergo two PCR tests is the government policy ... there should be an express service at international airports for them to take PCR tests,” he said.
“There are government-certified laboratory instruments that can analyze DNA samples within 30 minutes. As the government has tightened quarantine measures for international tourists, [measures] at international airports should be changed accordingly,” he added.
As travelers could test positive for COVID-19 after they arrive in Taiwan, the method of transporting people from airports to government quarantine facilities or to quarantine hotels should be also be changed, Cheng said.
The government should be able to conduct contact tracing based on the information provided by travelers, whether they are taking disease prevention taxis, buses or rental vehicles to quarantine facilities or hotels, Cheng said.
“We will help Taoyuan International Airport Corp to make sure that airport workers are vaccinated, equipped with protective gear and follow a set of standardized disease prevention measures,” he said.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the Central Epidemic Command Center, said that so far 11 travelers have arrived from high-risk countries since the arrival regulations changed on Sunday: three from India, three from Israel, two from the UK, two from Brazil and one from Indonesia.
Air passengers must take disease prevention taxis or buses to quarantine facilities or hotels, and may not be picked up by family members, Chen said.
However, travelers who park their vehicles at airports are allowed to drive them to quarantine hotels, and are able to transport those going to the same hotels as them, Chen said.
If they are to stay in a quarantine facility run by the government, they would still need to take a disease prevention taxi, as the facilities do not have parking spaces for private vehicles, he said.
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