TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Monday (April 18) that people with mild COVID symptoms can end isolation as soon as four days after the onset of symptoms if they meet certain requirements.
At a press conference, CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that following a meeting of experts on Saturday (April 16), the decision was made to allow confirmed COVID cases who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms to be discharged from isolation as long as they can meet any one of the following conditions:
Condition 1: On the fourth day after the onset of symptoms/a positive test, two follow-up rapid antigen tests or PCR tests come back negative or are positive but result in a Ct value greater than 30.
Condition 2: Between the fifth and ninth day after the onset of symptoms/a positive test, one follow-up rapid antigen test or PCR test comes back negative or is positive but results in a Ct value of greater than 30.
Condition 3: On the 10th day after the onset of symptoms/a positive test. There is no need for a final test.
Chen stressed that the three conditions apply to mild and asymptomatic patients who are hospitalized or staying in an enhanced quarantine center or enhanced epidemic prevention hotel. However, he pointed out that the rapid antigen tests must be administered by medical personnel, and the first two conditions do not apply to people undergoing isolation at home. In all cases, seven days of self-health monitoring should follow after leaving isolation.
Under the third condition, people undergoing home isolation leave their residences 10 days after they began experiencing symptoms or tested positive. There is no longer a need for a final test on the 10th day of home isolation.
Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said the new policy is based on data on Omicron cases in the U.S. and Japan. Studies have found that with Omicron, the viral load is highest on the third and fifth days and by the fifth day, the viral load will begin to decline.
By the seventh and ninth days, infectivity becomes very low. On the 10th day, the infectivity of the virus is no longer detectable, so patients are considered non-infectious at this stage.
With over 1,000 local cases reported four days in a row, quarantine centers are starting to fill up. To relieve the strain on quarantine facilities, 10 counties and cities have launched new home quarantine programs for those who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, including New Taipei City, Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Hualien County, Yilan County, Keelung City, and Hsinchu City.
