Right now, only 25,000 people a week are allowed to enter Taiwan. But health official Chou Jih-Haw says that number could be set to rise.
This week, Taiwan cut quarantine for inbound travelers from seven days to three and capped the number of weekly border entries at 25,000.
But many in the airline industry say that number isn’t enough. They think Taiwan should increase the quota to guarantee citizens can return home.
Chou says authorities have to see how the pandemic develops and what kind of strain it puts on healthcare resources. They would have to see improvements like daily cases going down before adjusting the current limit.
Vice Transportation Minister Chen Yen-po says officials are working with airlines to ensure they don’t sell tickets exceeding the cap. He also says authorities are distributing seats to different airlines on a rolling basis. Chen adds the transportation ministry will consider asking health authorities to raise the entry limit according to changes in ticket demand.