Taiwan COVID-19 News Briefs: May 30

ROC Central News Agency

05/30/2022 08:48 PM

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Taiwan on Monday reported 60,103 new COVID-19 cases, down more than 16,000 from the previous day, and 109 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Here are some of the new developments regarding the COVID-19 situation around Taiwan on Monday:

Large children's vaccination clinics to open in 6 major cities

Large-scale vaccination centers for children aged 5-11 will be opened Wednesday in Taiwan's six major cities, the CECC announced at a press briefing on Monday.

The facilities will be located at Liberty Square in Taipei, Banqiao Station in New Taipei, Taoyuan Arena, the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, Tainan Main Public Library, and the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center.

As of May 28, around 455,000 children aged 5-11 in Taiwan had been vaccinated against COVID-19, accounting for around 30 percent of the total age group, the CECC said.

Premier authorizes CECC to review border, quarantine policies

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has agreed to let the CECC examine the possibility of easing border controls and adjusting the length of quarantine for arriving travelers, Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said Monday.

According to Lo, Su said the changes should be evaluated based on the need to preserve Taiwan's medical capacity, with the aim being to reconnect to the world and return to normal life.

At a press briefing later that day, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) confirmed the CECC is considering shortening the quarantine period from the current seven days, but did not plan to cancel it completely.

Local news updates

● Chiayi City to offer 5 free rapid tests to kids aged 0-6

From June 1-30, Chiayi City will offer five free COVID-19 rapid tests to children aged 6 and below, the city government announced Monday.

Parents can pick up the free tests by presenting their child's National Health Insurance card at any pharmacy participating in the government's rapid test rationing program, the city government said.

● Cities to open more children's vaccination clinics

Hualien will open two large-scale children's vaccination clinics at Hualien County Stadium and Ji-An Elementary School on June 8, the county government said Monday.

The facilities will be open to children who do not make it to the county's vaccinations drives on elementary school campuses, which are being held from Monday through June 7, the county government said.

Meanwhile, Taoyuan City, said it plans to open two large vaccination clinics -- one in the city's north and one in the south -- on Thursday, which will be able to administer vaccine shots to up to 5,000 people per day.

Saliva-based rapid tests to go on sale at 7-Eleven, Cosmed

250,000 saliva-based COVID-19 rapid tests will be available at over 6,000 7-Eleven and 400 Cosmed stores from Wednesday night, the companies announced Tuesday.

The GMate COVID-19 Ag Saliva rapid test kits will sell for NT$175 each, and be available as long as supplies last, the companies said.

Odds and ends

● The CECC has extended its outdoor mask mandate through June 30.

● Taiwan took delivery of 331,000 more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech children's vaccine on Monday, bringing the total number of doses received to 1.1 million, according to the CECC.

● The number of students at the university level and below to test positive for COVID-19 has risen to 193,578, after 9,533 new cases were added on Monday, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education.

(By Matthew Mazzetta)

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