Taiwan lifted all its Covid-19 entry restrictions on Thursday, permitting vacationers unfettered entry the self-ruled island after greater than 2.5 years of border controls.
Hong Kong and Taiwan, along with mainland China, required most guests to finish a compulsory quarantine interval all through the pandemic, at the same time as most nations reopened their borders to vacationers.
Guests are now not required to quarantine upon entry, or take any PCR checks. As an alternative, they might want to monitor their well being for per week after arriving, and acquire a unfavorable end result on a speedy antigen check the day they arrive.
If folks wish to exit throughout the weeklong monitoring interval, they want a unfavorable check from both that day or the day earlier than. There are additionally now not any restrictions on sure nationalities being allowed to enter Taiwan.
Dozens of holiday makers from Thailand had been among the many first to reach beneath the brand new guidelines at Taiwan’s Taoyuan Worldwide Airport, which serves the capital Taipei, on a Tiger Air flight that landed shortly after midnight.
Vacationers like 32-year-old Mac Chientachakul and his dad and mom had been excited to go to the island.
“Sizzling pot is my favorite dish in Taiwan,” Chientachakul stated. “It’s my very first thing to do … I miss it a lot.”
Sonia Chang, a journey agent, stated the modifications are good for the tourism trade and Taiwanese residents, who can now journey overseas with out having to quarantine after they get house.
Valaisurang Bhaedhayajibh, a 53-year-old enterprise growth director of a design agency, referred to as the brand new guidelines handy.
“We don’t need to do the check earlier than coming right here, and likewise after arriving,” he stated. “We’re nonetheless required to do the self-test each two days, and the whole lot has been supplied” by Taiwanese authorities, together with the speedy testing kits.
At a welcome ceremony within the Taoyuan airport’s arrival corridor, the travellers from Thailand had been met by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s director, Chang Shi-chung, who handed out presents.
Taiwan’s tourism bureau estimated {that a} complete of 244 vacationers from 20 tour teams will arrive Thursday.
With each Hong Kong and Taiwan eliminating restrictions and welcoming again vacationers, mainland China stays one of many few locations on the planet holding borders closed and sticking to a “zero-Covid” technique. Hong Kong ended its necessary quarantine coverage for inbound travellers late final month, requiring only a three-day self-monitoring interval.
