Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/06/2020
By: Yu Hsiang, Chen Chih-chung,
Chang Ming-hsun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) Taiwan's government will not test all passengers arriving in the country for COVID-19 because its current 14-day mandatory quarantine has worked well to keep the virus at bay, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Thursday.

Su was the latest official to dismiss a call for everyone entering Taiwan from overseas to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, after officials from the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) made similar comments over the past few weeks, as Taiwan continues to see new imported cases, as well as a few cases with unknown sources that health experts said could have been contracted domestically.

The call for universal testing has been made in recent weeks by health experts and mayors worried that people who have the virus but are asymptomatic are entering Taiwan and that this could lead to community infections.

They argue that Taiwan's current measures — requiring all passengers to undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine and foreign nationals to also provide negative test reports three days before their departure for Taiwan — are not enough to stop infections from entering the country. They believe universal testing could identify asymptomatic carriers and reduce the chance of community transmissions.    [FULL  STORY]