TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwanese schools implemented health authorities' new pandemic regulations on Monday, right after the long Mid-Autumn Festival weekend. Starting Sept. 12, classes will no longer be fully suspended if one student is infected with COVID-19. Students will have to take a rapid test, and only the infected students will have to be quarantined.
When asked, a student's parent said: "They will stay home if they are diagnosed (with COVID-19.) For the others, they will do rapid test kits. If there are no problems, they can come to the class, which is better for the student's learning.
According to previous regulations, the entire class is suspended for 3 days if a student tests positive. Many parents are glad to hear of the change in regulations, so they won't have to worry about class constantly stopping and resuming.
For now, after 7 days of isolation, if the student has no more symptoms, he or she will be able to return to school. For the classmates that may have come in contact with the infected individuals for over 15 minutes, as long as their rapid test kits are negative, they can continue to go to class as usual. Schools will be providing 1 free rapid test kit for students.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 11, since schools have resumed, the number of confirmed cases under 18 years old has reached 50,338. Most were elementary school students, with a total of 19,774 confirmed cases.
