I thought already for quite some time you can only quarantine at home if there is nobody else present, i.e. the own bathroom condition does not suffice. Is this wrong or do pilots get carte blanche to just do whatever they want?
English version of case 1134 and 1136 travel history
Time for me to hide.
Things can sure get out of hand and spread quickly all over Taiwan within about a day.
Hi Guys,
I have two question: how come Taiwan doesnāt test? And does Taiwan not have capacity for cheap tests? I mean I just read on focustaiwan.tw that those two positive tested person visited a restaurant and used public transport and anyone who was there should monitor their health. Why arenāt they tested? You can infect people without any symptoms at all. Also the super high prices for tests of any kind in Taiwan really put people off from self testing. I know rapid tests arenāt 100% but its better than nothing, espcially when you develop any kind of symptom. They cost 2ā¬ in the EU. The PCR tests costs below 30ā¬. Taiwan charges 200ā¬ for it.
Alright, a third question: how come almost all positive cases develop after 14 days quarantine? Are the hotels rooms already contaminated?
We got nerd immunity.
Not looking good. Hopefully, with everybody wearing masks on public transport it limits the spread. The restaurant is bit of a worry though, since everybody takes their mask off in a restaurant once they get to their seat.
Letās hope they get this traced and more importantly, stop with that utterly ridiculous short quarantine time for pilots.
Keep them at the airport until their next flight.
edit: Just saw that Balle Balle Indian is close to my work ā¦ thatās disconcerting. Iāve been vaccinated, but Iāve no idea how long it takes for the antibodies to kick in proper.
In this recent cluster, they didnāt. The cargo pilots were only required to do three days quarantine, and for reasons I donāt understand one of them was permitted to do so at home, thereby infecting two of his kids (so farāIāll be amazed if the spouse does not test positive soon). And all the Novotel Hotel workers of course did not quarantine as they did not just arrive in the countryābut somehow one of them got infected, and then a bunch more, who then infected members of their familiesā¦
The hesitancy to test widely in Taiwan has been discussed ad nauseum (see the COVID Taiwan 2020 thread if you have hours or days on your hands!). The authorities determined early on that strictly enforced quarantine for all arrivals (and isolation for confirmed cases), combined with mask wearing, washing hands, etc was actually the key. The recent cluster they are now trying to contain may not disprove the efficacy of their approachābut it does signal that the China Airlines cargo pilot quarantine system (such as it was) had some holes that need to be repaired.
Guy
His schedule was changed by the airlines, and the quarantine hotel was booked up, so he was allowed to quarantine at home (Currently the one-per-home rule for the public does not apply to flight crew). He left his room when his family was not around to help tidy up the house, and got his kids infected (his wife is fine so far). What an idiot! Both kids are under 5.
Four of the infected live in Yonghe. Two commuted by MRT and buses to Taipei and Sanchong. Hopefully now doctors will order covid tests for anyone who shows up with suspicious symptoms.
ā¦ which is grossly negligent.
The first time I see the CDC making silly, unnecessary mistakes. For some strange reason flight crews seem to have a huge lobby with them, endangering everybody else for totally unnecessary reasons 
And the last two community spreads have been pilots.
Ko pointed out that the Taipei City Government will follow a three-tiered emergency response plan in the event of a major outbreak.
The city government will place restrictions on indoor gatherings of more than 100 people if a single domestic case is reported with an unknown source. It will close event venues if more than 10 cases with unknown sources are reported in a day, and remote-learning and working will be initiated if 1,400 domestic cases are reported during a two-week period.
These thresholds seem rather high considering the lack of widespread testing.
It seems to me theyāre getting rather too much confidence in their own abilities on the basis of previous success. As afterspivak said, proper quarantine was probably the most effective thing that Taiwan got right early on (and that other countries didnāt). Poking holes in that shield will inevitably ruin everything.
OTOH, the problem with flight crews illustrates how completely futile all of this is. Humans are humans. You canāt isolate them from their families, however logical it might seem: all that would happen is that flight crews would start leaving the profession in droves, and then weād all be royally screwed. Air travel is vital for all sorts of reasons, not just passenger transport.
Hopefully Taiwan will get its vaccination programme sorted, put the necessary healthcare facilities in place, and then just let the cards fall where they may. It wonāt be pretty, and I suspect the authorities will panic just like everyone else did in 2020. But eventually weāll get it over with.
Expect infected returnees from India. Donāt they have a new strain there?
Around 150 Taiwanese in the country
All arrivals from India are now required to quarantine in central government facilities. Thatās one attempt to contain possible future spread if/when these folks are evacuated.
Guy
Just checking - do the central government quarantine facilities allow day trips from the Xindian College of Tourism and Whatever? 
No it does not. 
Guy
Are flight crew not required to vaccinate? They should be first or second in line after medical staff.
Youād think so, wouldnāt you?
I suppose there are a few possibilities.
(a) they canāt actually force people to get vaccinated.
(b) these people turning up positive have been vaccinated and donāt actually have COVID.
(c) the vaccines havenāt worked in these cases.
ā¦
Following the emergence of this cluster, all China Airlines staff were tested in Taoyuan with vaccination available to them on site. Minister Chen made it clear that they cannot compel any one to be vaccinated, but they make the first shot available to them on the spot without requiring an extra trip.
Guy
Todays update (in Chinese) about the new cases today and besides masks wash your hands: