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Taiwan ends community PCR testing for COVID-19

Demand wanes and no need to waste resources: CECC

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Community PCR test site for COVID-19 in New Taipei.

Community PCR test site for COVID-19 in New Taipei. (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan will phase out community PCR screenings for COVID starting Thursday (Aug. 11) as demand declines.

The Central Epidemic Command Center Spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said Tuesday (Aug. 9) that about 114 PCR testing sites nationwide will halt services within a month. Local municipalities have reported waning demand and that the move will save the human and medical resources deployed for such facilities.

Individuals with no symptoms and who need PCR proof for overseas travel will be required to pay for a screening at medical institutions. The price of a self-paid PCR test ranges from NT$3,000 (US$100) to NT$4,000 for a standard report, CNA quoted Chuang as saying.

Still, people will receive a free PCR screening if they are arrivals at border checks, are subject to contact tracing, or are considered to have such a need by a doctor.

Taiwan started establishing community PCR centers in May 2021 to make the service widely accessible, mainly in hotspots and areas with a high prevalence rate of the virus. The service’s termination cuts the waste on manpower but does not imply COVID will be downgraded to a category 4 communicable disease from 5, Chaung stressed.