TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday (July 29) announced that it will reduce airport wait times by up to 50 minutes by halting the mandatory disinfection of plane cargo holds. It will also end the requirement that luggage for transiting passengers be disinfected.
On Thursday (July 28), CECC Spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) acknowledged there had been complaints about spending one to 2.5 hours on clearing border checkpoints and pledged to streamline the process. The next day, CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) announced that from Saturday (July 30) cargo hold disinfection will be suspended, with only spraying of disinfectant on luggage on conveyor belts to be continued.
In addition, Wang said that transfer passengers will no longer have to have their luggage disinfected. However, Wang said because the infection rate among inbound passengers is still high and most of them are infected with the Omicron subvariant BA.5, cabin disinfection will continue and adjustments will be made as needed.
As he made the announcement, Wang held up a sign saying: Civil Aeronautics Administration "Guidelines for Strengthening Aircraft Disinfection and Cleaning in Response to COVID-19 variants." It said that taking into consideration the global and local situation with the pandemic and to avoid affecting the operational efficiency of the airport, and provided that staff wear appropriate protection, with supporting measures for regular monitoring:
1. Cargo hold disinfection, which currently takes 40 to 50 minutes, will be suspended. Luggage will only need to be sprayed with disinfectant when it is on the conveyor belt.
2. Luggage for transit passengers will be exempt from disinfection. Cleaning and disinfection of luggage transportation equipment will continue to be implemented.
Cabin disinfection - Presently, the positivity rate among inbound passengers at the airport is still high and most are infected with new variants such as BA.5. Therefore, cabin disinfection will be maintained at this stage and will be adjusted in a rolling basis.
Given that under existing rules the luggage cannot leave the cargo hold until it is disinfected, the lifting of this requirement could shave up to 50 minutes off the time of waiting for baggage.
In addition, the airport will start an epidemic prevention shuttle bus service on Aug. 1. Every day during peak hours, the shuttle will depart once an hour to transport passengers to designated locations where relatives and friends can pick them up, including in Taipei and New Taipei.
