Taiwan is scrapping a requirement that COVID-19 patients test negative for the novel coronavirus three times in a row before they can leave quarantine. Taiwan adopted the rule because of concerns that stories about false negatives could lead to panic.
But new research from South Korea shows that patients who have tested negative for COVID-19 twice in a row cannot transmit the disease even if subsequent tests come back positive. This is because the duration between tests has given them enough time to move beyond the stage when the disease can be passed on.
Meanwhile, researchers in Taiwan have found that the COVID-19 patients they studied did not infect others once a week had passed from the onset of their symptoms.
These findings have prompted Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center to adopt new criteria for releasing COVID-19 patients from quarantine.
Firstly, ten days must have passed since the onset of symptoms. In the case of asymptomatic patients, ten days must have passed since the first positive test result. Secondly, symptoms must have subsided for three days. And thirdly, patients must test negative for COVID-19 twice.