Taiwan announced plans on to reopen to business travellers and shorten quarantine for all arrivals, slightly loosening restrictions in one of the few places alongside China still pursuing a zero-Covid strategy. A mask mandate and some other restrictions will also be eased from March 1, authorities said.
The island was hailed for keeping Covid-19 at bay for the first year of the pandemic, but an outbreak detected last April forced Taipei to implement economically painful restrictions. That included banning all foreign visitors, with the exception of a few categories such as residency holders and diplomats, since a surge in local infections last May.
Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) said that restrictions would ease beginning early March for foreigners coming in for business purposes, including inspection, investment, employment or fulfilling contractual obligations.
“We will open to foreign business people starting March 7 in line with some relaxations in the overall pandemic prevention measures,” said Chen Tsung-yen, deputy head of the CECC. Currently, Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau residents can only apply for entry to fulfil business contracts or due to transferrals within multinational companies.
