Government officials have confirmed that a planned COVID-19 travel bubble between Taiwan and the Pacific island nation of Palau will go ahead. The travel bubble will allow people to travel between both countries with little to no quarantine measures.
Travel bubble privileges will only be available to people with no travel history to high-risk areas over the past half-year. Travelers from Taiwan will be given polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests at the airport before their departure. Only people who return negative results will be allowed to travel to Palau.
Originally, Palauan officials wanted Taiwanese travelers to be tested upon arrival in the country using rapid antigen tests. However, Taiwanese health authorities said that rapid antigen tests often return false positive results, and convinced Palau to let travelers undergo PCR tests in Taiwan before departure instead.
Upon returning to Taiwan, travelers must undergo fourteen days of what officials are calling “self-health management”. Travelers must monitor their condition carefully for the first five days after returning to Taiwan. After that, they will be tested for COVID-19. If they return a negative test, they will be allowed to follow less stringent self-health management protocols for the remaining nine days.