People who had COVID-19 and were ordered to stay at home amid a shortage in hospital beds earlier this year would be eligible for compensation of NT$1,000 per day, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Friday, as it had expanded the program formerly targeting only those who were ordered to quarantine in centralized facilities.
The program was launched to support contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases and some incoming travelers during their 14-day quarantines, Social Assistance and Social Work Department head Su Chao-ju (蘇昭如) said.
After a local COVID-19 outbreak was detected in the middle of May, some people with no or mild symptoms had been ordered to stay at home amid a shortage in beds in hospital isolation wards, Su said.
Such cases would also be eligible for compensation, as they could not go to work while isolating at home, she said.
The expansion would include two more groups: people who were ordered to stay at home after testing positive in a rapid antigen test, but were confirmed negative in a polymerase chain reaction test, and people undergoing seven-day home isolation after being released from an isolation ward, she said.
Those who received isolation orders under those conditions after May 11 can seek compensation through the ministry’s Web Site, she said.
Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported seven imported COVID-19 cases, but no domestic cases or deaths.
The cases were three Taiwanese who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from the US, Cyprus or Cambodia, and four foreigners — from Malaysia, Indonesia and Mongolia — the center said.
Six cases were asymptomatic, while the seventh — a Taiwanese man in his 20s who returned from Cyprus on Wednesday — was placed in hospital quarantine after upon arrival declaring that he had tested positive earlier this month, the CECC said.
He reported symptoms, including a fever, cough and loss of taste and smell since Oct. 4, the center said.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had confirmed 16,364 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, including 14,587 domestic infections and 1,723 imported cases, as well as 846 deaths.
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