Starting from March 7, passengers arriving in Taiwan will have to undergo only 10 days' quarantine, down from 14 days right now. Taiwan's borders will also open to business travelers for the first time in almost a year. That's according to the health ministry, which also announced Taiwan will relax rules for wearing face masks starting from March 1.
All travelers entering Taiwan have had to quarantine for 14 days since shortly after the global pandemic began. However, people arriving in Taiwan after March 7 this year will now need to quarantine for only 10 days, followed by a seven-day self-health management period. They must take two PCR tests and five rapid tests during this time.
From March 1 till the end of the month, masks aren't required while exercising outside and taking pictures. People will also be allowed to eat while riding trains and the high speed rail, sample foods at stores and markets, and make toasts at weddings.
Starting from March, hospitals outside Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung will allow people to visit patients. People traveling to Taiwan's outlying islands by planes and boats will also no longer have to undergo rapid testing.
The health ministry says that after further evaluating the Omicron variant, vaccine roll-out, hospital preparation, and other countries' policy changes, they have concluded that Taiwan is ready to make these changes.