People in home quarantine now allowed 2-hour visits with sick relatives

ROC Central News Agency

07/08/2020 08:53 PM

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) Taiwan has eased its home quarantine rules to allow the attendance of family funerals and visits of up to two hours with seriously ill relatives, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

Such activities, however, will not be considered unless the applicant has been in home quarantine for at least five days and has shown no symptoms of the COVID-19 disease during that time, the CECC said in a statement.

Those seeking to visit critically ill relatives must also obtain permission from the patient's hospital and will have to be tested for COVID-19 at a designated health center at their own cost, the CECC said.

If the applicants meet all the requirements, they will be allowed to visit sick family members for a maximum two hours a day, for three days after receiving the negative COVID-19 test results, the CECC said, adding that the new rules took effect Wednesday.

People who are allowed out during home quarantine must also wear a mask at all times, maintain social distancing, refrain from taking public transport, wash their hands frequently, and maintain good personal hygiene, the CECC said.

At a weekly press briefing Wednesday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said the home quarantine restrictions are being loosened slightly on humanitarian grounds, as some people have been returning to Taiwan specifically to visit sick family members or attend funerals.

Prior to the change on Wednesday, people in home quarantine were allowed to visit seriously ill relatives once every three days for no more than an hour, according to Chen.

As part of Taiwan's border control measures that were implemented in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most foreign nationals, with few exceptions, are barred from entering the country, and all arriving passengers, including Taiwanese nationals, are subject to a 14-day quarantine upon entry.

(By William Yen)

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