Authorities are considering “gradually reopening” Taiwan’s borders to migrant workers. That was the word from Health Minister Chen Shih-chung on Friday.
Taiwan has had a blanket ban on entry for all new migrant workers since May 19, when Taiwan experienced a rapid rise in cases of COVID-19. As a result, Taiwan is experiencing a migrant labor shortage. The total number of migrant workers in Taiwan dropped below 700,000 for the first time in almost a year this July.
The government is looking into reopening Taiwan’s borders to migrant workers now that Taiwan’s COVID-19 outbreak is largely under control. Daily local case numbers have hovered around zero in recent weeks, and the Central Epidemic Command Center announced yesterday that 70% of the population had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says plans for reopening are complicated by the fact that the Lunar New Year holiday is just three months away. The government expects tens of thousands of Taiwanese people to return home from overseas, putting a strain on Taiwan’s COVID-19 border regime.
That’s why Chen says health authorities are looking into reopening the borders in stages, rather than all at once.