TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday (April 27) announced that it is discontinuing the real-name registration system for venues effective immediately and is calling on the public to use the government's contact tracing app instead.

At Wednesday's press conference, CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said that the real-name registration system in places of business and public areas (including transportation and restaurants) will cease immediately. Instead, members of the public are encouraged to download and use the Taiwan Social Distancing App (臺灣社交距離).

On May 19, 2021, the government launched a new QR code for the real-name registration system which streamlined the process of providing contact information at a given venue down to three steps. The registration system soon became required in all public venues and as of April 26, 4.77 billion text messages had been sent via the platform.

The public is now expected to use the Taiwan Social Distancing app instead. When asked by the media whether penalties will be imposed on those who fail to use the app, Chen said that a new version of the app will be released in the next couple of days and the CECC will first focus on encouraging the public to use the tool rather than levy fines.

Those who have yet to download the app can find it under "Taiwan Social Distancing" on the Android and iOS app stores.