More good news for regional border reopening, with Taiwan’s government announcing today that the country will drop its quarantine requirement for all incoming travellers by “around” 13th October 2022, three weeks from now.
While the exact date has yet to be nailed down, this will represent the first time quarantine-free travel has been possible to Taiwan for around two-and-a-half years, due to border restrictions in place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country will shift from its current “3 + 4” quarantine scheme to a “0 + 7” programme, under which travellers will no longer need to quarantine and instead will only be subject seven days of self-health monitoring.
Taiwan also plans to progressively drop mask-wearing requirements in outdoor and public spaces, as its latest COVID-19 wave shows signs of reaching its peak in the days ahead.
Taiwan’s current entry rules (“3 + 4”)
Currently, Taiwan adopts a so-called “3 + 4” scheme, whereby arriving international travellers are subject to three days of quarantine, followed by four days of self-health monitoring.
All passengers arriving in Taiwan are required to undergo a COVID-19 PCR test using a saliva sample upon arrival, before being permitted to proceed to their pre-arranged quarantine facility, but no pre-departure testing is required.
A further self-administered rapid COVID-19 test (ART) is required on the final day of mandatory quarantine.
A principle of “one person per household” must be followed during the three-day quarantine phase, after which travelers can switch to “one person per room” during the four days of self-health monitoring.
Travellers can choose either a quarantine taxi from the airport to their accommodation, or can arrange for a friend or relative to collect them, but use of public transport is not allowed.
Furthermore, visa-free arrivals into Taiwan are currently only available to visitors from specific countries like Australia, the UK, EC countries, Canada and the USA, Taiwan’s “diplomatic allies”, but not for Singaporean citizens at this stage.
Taiwan also caps international passenger arrivals to 50,000 arrivals per week (i.e. only around 7,000 per day).
New “0 + 7” quarantine-free scheme
Taiwan’s government met on 22nd September to discuss a relaxation of quarantine measures, and agreement was reached that the new “0 + 7” scheme will go into place on or around 13th October 2022, according to a statement made after the meeting.
This policy will mean there is no quarantine for arriving travellers, however there will still be seven days of self-health monitoring.
Earlier today Victor Wang, head of Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center, also announced that restrictions on people undergoing self-health monitoring, dining out, and using public transport may be substantially eased.
Precise details are still awaited at the time of writing, but based the statement made after the meeting, the “0 + 7” policy will feature:
- Arrival cap increase to 150,000 per week
- Rapid COVID-19 antigen test (ART) on arrival in Taiwan, rather than a saliva PCR test
- No mandatory quarantine for those who test negative for COVID-19
- Travellers can take any mode of transport from the airport to their accommodation
- Resumption of pre-COVID visa-free travel, to include countries like Singapore and Japan
- Removal of the ban on tour groups
The reopening to visa-free tourists from countries Taiwan was open to pre-COVID is of course great news and essential for many of our Singaporean readers when it comes to planning a trip from mid-October onwards.
What if you test positive?
Once the “0 + 7” scheme is in place, if your on-arrival ART test in Taiwan returns a positive result you will need to quarantine at home or in a designated hotel.
Some relaxations from 29th September
Taiwan won’t go straight from “3 + 4” to “0 + 7” on 13th October, with the first stage of relaxations for those eligible to enter kicking in on 29th September, as follows:
- Arrival cap increase to 60,000 per week
- Rapid COVID-19 antigen test (ART) on arrival in Taiwan, rather than a saliva PCR test
- One person per room permitted during three day quarantine
The zero-quarantine “0 + 7” policy will be officially implemented subject to no significant changes in the epidemic profile two weeks after the above changes, which pins 13th October 2022 as the likely date for quarantine-free travel resuming.
Vaccination is not required
Like many countries in the region, including Singapore and South Korea, Taiwan does not require arriving travellers from overseas to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
There are currently no additional quarantine or testing requirements for passengers who are not fully vaccinated.
Singapore – Taiwan flights (October 2022)
Taiwan was linked to Singapore Changi Airport by 86 direct weekly flights prior to the pandemic, from the major cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung.
In October 2022 it’s a far cry from those kind of flight volumes, with only 36 direct weekly flights on offer, which means pent-up demand looks set to be funnelled on less than half the number of services previously available during the early stages of reopening.
Here are the planned Singapore – Taipei frequencies for next month by airline:
- China Airlines: 14/wk
- EVA Air: 5/wk
- Scoot: 7/wk
- Starlux: 7/wk
- Singapore Airlines: 3/wk
Singapore Airlines already plans to restore daily (7/wk) flights to and from Taipei from the start of the northern winter season in November 2022.
In other good news, mask-wearing is already optional on Singapore Airlines flights to and from Taiwan.
Summary
Finally we are starting to see promising signs of border relaxation from North Asian countries like Taiwan, with this official plan announced to axe arrival quarantine in the island nation by around 13th October 2022.
An on-arrival ART test should be the only significant hurdle to cross for visitors from visa-free countries after that.
This week we also expect good news regarding similar relaxations in Hong Kong and Japan, both of which are also set to go quarantine-free from next month, which would leave China as the only major country in the region still retaining strict border measures.
It remains to be seen whether Japan or Hong Kong can beat Taiwan to the line and relax their own border measures even earlier next month.
(Cover Photo: Thomas Tucker)
Woohoo! So does 0+7 mean we can stay at ANY hotel or Airbnb from the day of arrival if we don’t have family to stay with in Taiwan, as long as we do self-health monitoring?
That should be the case yes, but the finer details are still awaited at the moment!
That’s great! I almost booked a quarantine hotel before reading your article. I’ll be watching the news closely. Thank you!
Yes hopefully this will be all firmed up by 6th Oct, one week before!
Great news thank you for this!! Can’t wait to get back to Taipei.
Under the 0+7, is it possible to not stay the full 7 days. Can I leave taiwan in say 4-5 days?
Does it mean that we have to book a room each to comply for the self monitoring from October?
No that is for the 4 days self monitoring during the current 3+4 arrangement, then for the 3 days quarantine from 29 Sep.
Once there is no quarantine (0+7) from around 13 Oct there will be no movement or accommodation restrictions.