TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Monday (May 9) issued new quarantine guidelines for COVID cases, travelers arriving from overseas, and contacts of COVID cases.
During a press conference on Monday, CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced new quarantine and self-health management rules and admitted that changes to epidemic policies have been numerous and rapid in recent days. To help the public better understand the new rules, he released a graphic that lists four categories of people who need to observe some form of quarantine and or self-health monitoring, none of whom are allowed to go to crowded places or restaurants or participate in gatherings.
COVID cases (7+7)
7 days of home care
- Mild/asymptomatic and meet the health and environmental requirements for home care
- Mild/asymptomatic conditions ease, and if seven days have passed since the date of onset or the date of testing, the person may leave isolation and there is no need for testing. They must then directly begin self-health management
People in high-risk groups will be transported to a government-appointed quarantine facility. People with moderate-to-severe symptoms will be admitted to a hospital.
7 days of self-health management
- Those who have completed home care
- Can venture outside the home without taking a rapid antigen test but cannot go to crowded places, restaurants, gatherings, or other social activities
Overseas Arrivals (7+7)
7 days of home quarantine
- All arrivals from foreign countries
- Must take a COVID test upon arrival. After the seven-day quarantine expires and the COVID test is negative, self-health management begins
7 days of self-health management
- Those who have completed home quarantine
- Can venture out of the home without taking a rapid antigen test, but cannot go to crowded places, restaurants, gatherings, or other social activities
Close Contacts (3+4)
3 days home isolation
- Relatives, friends, and roommates who live in the same residence are considered close contacts.
- Three days of home isolation start from the day one has been notified they are a close contact, "Day 0."
4 days of self-initiated epidemic prevention
- Those who have finished home isolation or who have exceeded the three-day home isolation period when they were notified they are a contact, but time remains for the self-initiated epidemic prevention period
- When it is necessary to venture out, close contacts must test negative on a rapid antigen test whenever they leave their home. Students must receive a negative result on a rapid test one day after the self-initiated epidemic prevention period expires before they can return to school.
- It is forbidden to go to crowded places, restaurants, gatherings, or other social activities.
Other contacts
Self-health monitoring
- Contacts of close contacts can end self-health monitoring if the close contacts test negative on a rapid antigen kit.
- Contacts of COVID cases who work in the same area, but are asymptomatic and have received their third vaccine dose at least 14 days ago, can enter seven days of self-health monitoring starting from the last day of contact.
- Avoid going to crowded places, restaurants, gatherings, or other social activities.
Self-initiated responsive measures
- Contacts of COVID cases who attend the same class or work in the same area
- Adoption of self-initiated responsive measures, such as remote working or learning, depending on the degree of infection risk
