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Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said border controls should remain, given the continued spread of Covid-19 globally. Photo: Getty Images

Taiwan keeps border controls despite fall in Covid-19 cases, citing Delta variant

  • Spread of the variant in many countries still requires ‘current stringency of our border control’, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says
  • Island records eight new infections on Monday, as its recent outbreak continues to recede
Taiwan has no plans to ease or lift its border restrictions despite a sharp drop in the island’s Covid-19 infections, its health minister said on Monday.
Citing the rapid spread of the coronavirus’ Delta variant in various parts of the world, Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said it was too early to reopen borders to visitors.

“As the Delta variant has remained rampant in many countries in the world, there is a need to maintain the current stringency of our border control and strict control of international and domestic flights,” Chen said in a statement following a meeting of the self-ruled island’s cabinet.

Monday’s meeting, led by Premier Su Tseng-chang, discussed Taiwan’s handling of the coronavirus and the curbing of its recent outbreak.

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The global spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19

The global spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19

The island has been fighting a spike in cases since late April – its worst outbreak since the pandemic began – but the situation has been brought under control after health authorities imposed soft lockdown measures.

Eight cases were reported on Monday, four of them local – the same number of local cases recorded on Sunday and a marked improvement from the high of 721 local cases on May 22.

According to the island’s Central Epidemic Command Centre, headed by Chen, there were 74 cases last week, down from 104 the previous week. The centre said 37 per cent of the island’s 23.5 million people had received at least one of their two Covid-19 vaccine doses.

The drop in cases has prompted local travel agencies to raise questions about the possibility of easing border control to allow foreign tourists to visit the island. After Chen ruled out doing so, Su directed government ministries to strictly uphold border controls to protect the public, Monday’s statement said.

Why is the Delta coronavirus variant quicker to make people sick?

Taiwan has imposed strict border controls throughout the pandemic, restricting foreigners from visiting unless for special reasons such as emergencies and on humanitarian grounds that are assessed case by case.

Under local rules, Taiwanese returning to the island and foreigners permitted to visit in special circumstances are required to enter quarantine for 14 days and undergo testing before they may leave.

Chen also said on Monday that despite the drop in new infections there were no plans to lift the island’s level 2 status under its four-tier alert system, on the basis that there were still likely to be some undetected local cases. Level 3 restrictions were imposed in May, before being eased to level 2 a fortnight ago.

As well as the eight new infections, four deaths were reported on Monday, taking the island’s total to 15,790 cases and 813 fatalities.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Taiwan maintains border controls despite drop in cases, citing Delta variant
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