TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is considering implementing a five-day quarantine scheme for positive COVID cases depending on the situation with the local outbreak next week.

During a press conference on Wednesday (Oct. 26), Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, announced the CECC Expert Advisory Panel held a discussion that morning on adjusting the number of days that confirmed COVID cases should undergo quarantine. Lo said that some panel members were concerned that because a number of epidemic prevention restrictions eased on Nov. 7 and the outbreak is at a plateau period, a shortening in quarantine could cause a new spike in cases and place a strain on medical resources.

Lo said the meeting was unable to reach a consensus and the decision was made to monitor the outbreak for a week and hold another meeting next week to discuss the matter further. Effective Nov. 7, if a COVID case tests negative for the virus on the seventh day of quarantine, they can dispense with the seven days of self-health monitoring, essentially a "7+0" scheme.

A member of the media then asked if the panel had discussed shortening the quarantine to five days or adopting a "3+4" formula. Lo confirmed the group discussed shortening quarantine from seven days to five days.

However, Lo reiterated that several experts said that shortening the number of quarantine days could lead to an increase in the transmission of the disease. Therefore, the officials called for a "prudent assessment" of the situation over the coming week before making a final decision.

CECC head Victor Wang (王必勝) said that discussion concerns the quarantine length for confirmed COVID cases, rather than suspected cases or contacts of cases. Wang said that if the length of their quarantine is insufficient, it could lead to an increased number of infections.

Wang tried to temper expectations by saying that the panel would take an extended, cautionary approach.