Taiwan’s Cabinet will possibly announce future plans for the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and COVID-19 disease classification in May. That’s according to the Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) on Wednesday.
Masks are no longer required on public transportation starting this week. This has sparked discussions around the classification of COVID-19 and the downsizing of the CECC.
COVID-19 is currently listed as a category 5 communicable disease. Under the Communicable Disease Control Act, this designation requires the establishment of the CECC. The move to downgrade COVID-19 to category 4 could result in the center being downsized or disbanded in May.
Hsueh says the decisions will be announced jointly by the Cabinet. He says the Cabinet is finalizing details and the announcement will still happen around May, as previously announced.
When asked by an opposition party legislator about the three-month delay in the Communicable Disease Control Act amendments, Hsueh says the changes will pass the Cabinet next week at the earliest. He adds the amendments will then be sent to the Legislature for evaluation.