Taiwan tightens coronavirus border controls over Delta variant spread

Taiwan has announced new restrictions aimed at keeping the highly transmissible coronavirus Delta variant out of the country. New arrivals from five countries, including the UK, will be quarantined at state-run facilities.

The new anti-coronavirus measures were announced on Friday by Chen Shih-chung, the health minister of the island, which is claimed by China as an integral part of the country.
Starting from Sunday, arrivals from Bangladesh, Britain, Indonesia, Israel, and Peru will be required to remain within centralized state-run quarantine facilities for 14 days.

Currently, only people arriving onto the island from Brazil and India face such restrictions. People arriving from elsewhere are allowed to quarantine for two weeks at home or in hotels.

So far, Taiwan has detected only seven cases of the Delta variant, all of them imported from other countries. The strain was first identified in India late last year and is considered to be more contagious than others.

Taiwan has fared extremely well in the pandemic, keeping its cases under the 1,000 mark for over a year. However, the situation has changed recently, with the local spread of the disease accelerating.

The nation’s tally currently stands at 14,465, with 610 deaths. In recent days, the spread of the disease on the island has slowed down, with the nation reporting only 79 new domestic cases on Friday, down from 129 a day earlier.

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