TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The health authorities will no longer monitor arriving travelers for COVID-19 after the end of mandatory quarantine planned for Oct. 13, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday (Sept. 23).

People will need to learn how to live with the virus and take their own preventive measures without too much government involvement, according to CECC chief Victor Wang (王必勝). When needed, the cap on foreign arrivals, set at 150,000 per week for the period from Oct. 13, could be hiked further, CNA reported.

Despite the abolition of the mandatory three-day quarantine followed by four days of self-health monitoring and their replacement by a “0+7” formula without quarantine, the travel industry estimated the tourism situation would need up to one year to return to pre-pandemic levels. Up to 2019, Taiwan saw 11 million visitors per year.

On Thursday (Sept. 22), the government also announced an end to the ban on visiting tour groups, and the restoration of visa waivers for citizens of countries that had them before, except for Russia.