TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Central Epidemic Command Center head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said during Thursday’s (Aug. 5) COVID-19 briefing that Taiwan’s border controls will be relaxed but not at this stage, CNA reported.

Citing reports from Reuters and Bloomberg News, several domestic news outlets reported that the U.S. is considering new rules that would require all visitors to be fully vaccinated before entering the country.

When asked whether Taiwan will follow suit, Chen said border control is the primary way to contain the spread of the Delta variant and that checking vaccination status is not one of Taiwan’s measures. He added that the country primarily relies on quarantine and testing of arrivals to contain the pandemic, per CNA.

The CECC head said many people hope the country can loosen up the current border restrictions. “This is not out of the question further down the road,” he said, though he added that since infections of the Delta variant are on the rise around the globe, containing it and other variants has to be the priority. Therefore, border control cannot be relaxed at the moment.

On July 26, one day before Taiwan’s COVID-19 alert was lowered to Level 3, the country announced that the current entry ban on foreigners without a valid residence certificate would continue and that flight transfers would remain prohibited. However, exemptions for emergencies and those entering on humanitarian grounds would be considered on a case-by-case basis.