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Care facility mandatory testing to be tightened as COVID-19 cases rise

ROC Central News Agency

01/05/2023 06:12 PM

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) Mandatory COVID-19 testing will be tightened for residents and workers at long-term care facilities starting next week as new cases continue to rise in Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Thursday.

Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, said residents of long-term care facilities will be required to take rapid antigen tests twice a week from Jan.9 to Jan. 31.

However, people with disabilities or dementia, and those aged two to 18 who living in care centers will only have to take one rapid test a week, Lo said, while residents and care recipients aged two or younger who exhibit suspected COVID-19 symptoms should be taken to a healthcare facility for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Long-term care facility workers will be required to get a rapid test once a week and if they display possible symptoms of COVID-19, he said, as many of the patients are either seniors with chronic illnesses or belong to high-risk groups.

Individuals at care facilities who have been diagnosed and recovered from COVID-19 within the past three months are not required to get tested, Lo said.

According to CECC statistics, the weekly testing positivity rate for residents of care facilities jumped from 0.7 percent (Dec. 19-25, 2022) to 1.2 percent from Dec. 26, 2022, to Jan. 1, 2023.

A total of 354 workers across a total of 1,830 institutions (long-term care facilities, nursing homes, mental health/rehabilitation institutions, community welfare centers) in Taiwan tested positive for COVID-19 in the week from Dec. 26, 2022 to Jan. 1 this year.

From Jan. 1, 2022 to Jan. 1 this year, a total of 65,392 residents and 19,729 workers in care facilities have contracted COVID-19, according to official statistics.

The mandatory COVID-19 testing measures for residents in long-term care facilities is evaluated periodically by the CECC, with the test eased from twice-per-week to once a week from Nov. 28 to Dec. 31, 2022, while workers at those institutions were no longer required to get tested from Nov. 28.

However, following the CECC announcement on Thursday, COVID-19 testing will be required for care workers while residents will again be tested twice a week.

(By Chen Chien-ling, Shen Pei-yao and Ko Lin)

Enditem/AW