According to Global Network on September 29, the Taiwan Epidemic Command Center announced on the same day that it would carry out the "0+7" entry and exit on October 13 as scheduled. The so-called "0+7" means that passengers do not need to be quarantined in a hotel, but only need to undergo 7 days of home isolation monitoring.
For the Taiwan authorities impatiently implementing measures to unblock the entry, there are currently two main questions on the island:
The first problem is that since the new crown pneumonia epidemic on the island is still at its peak, the number of new confirmed cases exceeded 40,000 for three consecutive days, and the cumulative number of deaths exceeded 10,000. The outside world is worried that the unblocking entry will allow the mutant virus to enter the island, which may lead to the surge in the new crown epidemic.
In response to this, epidemic commander Wang Bisheng said that although the number of confirmed cases is still at its peak, there are two weeks left before October 13. According to estimates, the epidemic trend will go further. He pointed out that the new coronavirus has been mutating and will continue to observe whether there are threatening new variants.
It seems that the Taiwan authorities are determined to coexist with the new coronavirus, and they are more optimistic about the current situation after the lockdown is lifted in the future. Compared with the Taiwan authorities, the medical community seems to be worried. A doctor on the island said that because Omickron is not completely mild, there is still a certain proportion of severe illness and mortality, it is not suitable to completely give up epidemic prevention, otherwise it will cause a great impact on the medical system and indirectly harm the economy. By then, there may be 50 deaths in Taiwan every day.
In addition, many people on the island questioned how "0+7" can ensure that tourists do not run around? Can home health monitoring really prevent the new coronavirus?
The second question is that the entry is about to be unblocked, will the mask order be loosened? In this regard, Li Bingying from Taiwan's health and welfare department said that when the mask order will be loosened has nothing to do with "0+7", and it is impossible to predict how many confirmed patients will appear every day in the future, and he does not hope that the epidemic will break out again due to the lifting of the mask order. He stressed that autumn and winter are the epidemic period of respiratory diseases, and the regulations on wearing masks must be maintained until at least the end of the year.
Li Bingying said that the prerequisite for lifting the mask order is that the threat of COVID-19 is less than or equal to flu . Influenza is still used as the standard because it is a high mortality and mortality rate in respiratory diseases. The mortality rate of COVID-19 in Taiwan is one in a thousandth, while the mortality rate of influenza is 1/5-1/10 of that of COVID-19. Once the flu is epidemic, there will definitely be casualties. The annual death toll of influenza is 100-200, which is much smaller than that of COVID-19, and there are still many people at risk of death.
Therefore, the new coronavirus is still much more serious than the flu. In this case, I hope to reduce the occurrence of death and severe illness, and I still need to wear a mask. When the new coronavirus pneumonia becomes completely mild, the mask order can be completely lifted.
In addition, Wang Bisheng, commander of the Taiwan Epidemic Command Center, said that according to the current community infection situation on the island, information and discussions are still being collected, and the mask order will still be maintained and no consideration will be given to the unblocking.
Wang Bisheng also said that if the epidemic continues to stabilize, the mask order will be relaxed in stages in the future. The current preliminary plan is that the first stage does not require wearing masks throughout the whole process when going out, but only in confined spaces and public transportation. The second stage will be changed to "suggested wear", and the mask order will be discussed as early as November.
Official of the Epidemic Prevention Command Center Luo Yijun further stated that he has been conducting a rolling review on when the epidemic prevention measures of Taiwanese people will be loosened in the future. The opening of the mask order will also refer to the practices of other countries and regions outdoors and indoors. It is still at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of hospitalized patients is still large. In order to avoid greater burden on the medical system, there will be no large-scale adjustments in the next few weeks. It will ultimately determine when the mask order will be implemented based on the direction of the epidemic and the changes after "0+7".
It can be seen that the Taiwan authorities do not dare to be completely optimistic about the unblocking. Words such as waiting and not knowing the number of confirmed cases in the future also reflect their concerns and uncertainty about the future unblocking.However, for the Taiwan authorities, how can epidemic prevention and control be comparable to elections? As for whether the epidemic will rebound in the future, whether the death toll will soar may be less than their consideration. After all, the DPP authorities have done a lot of work in vaining the lives and health of the people on the island.
