gengar

Just to note that Taiwan actually did not start its mask mandate until December 1st.

IluvSQ

Yes, but a fairly high percentage of the population have been wearing masks for several decades...

gengar

When they're on scooters maybe.

Skyman65

Not exactly true. They expanded the mask mandate on Dec 1st, making it mandatory in more places. But there have been mask mandates for many venues since the beginning of the pandemic. And, as mentioned above, even where not mandated, people have been pretty religious about mask wearing in public since COVID started.

gengar

My statement was 100% true as I was referencing Taiwan and that was the context of the post I responded to as well. The Dec 1st mandate was a national mandate and was not an "expansion" of a national mandate; any existing mandates were made at the city level by city governments, not the national government (specifically, the mask mandates existing immediately prior to Dec 1 were in Taipei/New Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan - and those were only enacted in ~August 2020 anyway). The only prior national use of the CDCA (Communicable Disease Control Act) that I'm aware of was to require masks on public transport (including TRA, THSR, buses, various MRTs) beginning ~April 2020, but this was ended ~June 2020. (Don't quote me on the dates precisely, just off memory).

Let's not forget that the current CECC mask mandate doesn't even apply to restaurants, so the rules are much more lax than other countries (and I mean... why shouldn't they be).

strife

This does not match the reality at all as anyone who has ever been to Taiwan knows. I spent almost half of 2019 in Taiwan and mask wearing was rare. One of the cultural shocks for me was that usually the only people who wore masks were people who were sick which is in itself something entirely foreign to a lot of Westerners who typically would stay home.

In fact I happened to be in Taiwan when COVID-19 got serious elsewhere in the world and there was severe mask shortage in Taiwan. To the point where the government had to ration masks. It was quite embarrassing really as my colleagues made a big deal about presenting myself and other foreigners masks since we were not eligible for the government mask rationing. National ID was required to be rationed out. The media in Taiwan made a big deal about companies there having to dramatically increase production to meet the new demand of masks.

gengar

Same thing in Japan. What has always really bugged me about mask-wearing in Taiwan/Japan is how many people I encountered who have been perfectly fine going out for purely leisure purposes even when they knew they were sick, but just put a mask on and culturally felt that made it OK. (I suppose not much better to do the same thing for work purposes, but I guess I have more empathy when the employers in those countries tend to treat their workers like garbage.)

YariGuy

It was in the Taiwan press today that a new 2-phase plan is in the planning stages. Possibly starting sometime in April, travelers (including foreigners) who have been vaccinated (and with negative tests) may apply for 7-day quarantine (vs. 14-day). Once the Taiwan population is 60% vaccinated, the quarantine requirement may be lifted.

Acceptable vaccines include Chinese ones.

Article (in Chinese) from the Liberty Times:

https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/paper/1439670

FlyingSloth

How easy is it for a tourist from the U.S to apply to enter Taiwan? I really want to come back to Taiwan and I've been fully vaccinated for a month.

ProleOnParole

Tourism is not a valid purpose for travel, you'd have to find another reason. (Neither is visiting friends but if you have relatives in Taiwan, that could help.)

Currently you'd have to spend 14 days in quarantine, which can easily add T$20k+ to your trip expenses. Short-term business visitors can apply for less time in quarantine if visiting from certain countries but US is not on the list.

The current regulations in a gist:

Current country eligibility list for reduced quarantine period (short-term business visitors only):

• Low risk (5 days): Bhutan, Brunei, Fiji, Laos, Nauru, New Zealand, Macau, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Palau, Timor-Leste
• Moderate risk (7 days): Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam

There are other restrictions too, so this route is only viable in very specific circumstances, even if the country list were to be expanded eventually (it's supposed to be updated every two weeks).

YariGuy

I would wait for details of the new policy to come out, and check again.

bradysimpson

When do we expect Taiwan to open back up? I was there in March 2020 just the week before they closed everything down. It was absolutely MAGICAL. No one was there and we felt like we had the whole country to ourselves.

chipmaster

IMHO I’d venture next year? They have little vaccinations so the whole population is vulnerable.

The economy as well as life is doing great.

Wife and I are in week three of unrestricted local travel after 2+1 week quarantine, now shortened. I can see the prevailing climate to be more conservative than aggressive.

YariGuy

Some news at last:

https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202104260016

Shorter quarantine for COVID-19-vaccinated arrivals from mid-May: CECC

:D!

Will all vaccines be accepted or only selected ones?