The earliest date for border re-opening: Q4 2021.
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Here’s the source of that tweet by T.H. Schee, if anyone is interested:
At that time [Q4 2021], it will first target the five major markets of Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, and New Zealand.
An interesting section from the article. They specifically don’t mention China here, but isn’t movement almost unrestricted between China and Hong Kong these days?
I wonder if they’re going to keep issuing extensions for people here on tourist visas and visa-exempt status for another 1+ years.
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No no no no no no. Me first.
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Four more imported cases reported today: one from the Philippines, and three Taiwanese students returning sick from Europe:
Guy
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Wtf is going on in their brains? “Went to $Europe to study in August / October”. Hello? It’s a friggin Pandemic time? Europe is decidedly unsafe… Wrong time for travel and study abroad, no?
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Idiot parents.
Guy
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Speaking of which, any news from MOE yet regarding when the rest of us poor students may enter? 
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There’s no disincentive. If you’re abroad and get the sniffles it’s been made clear that you can just hop on a commercial flight home to use NHI, exposing everyone on the plane to whatever you have, and there will be no consequences as long as you announce that you’re sick when you arrive at TPE.
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Those students are selfish assholes. None of them are in a high risk age group either .
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I prefer “TURDS” in reference to those (Taiwanese or other) that travel with the OBVIOUS probability/high possibility of being COVID positive and contagious. Every day, more TURDS are exposed. SHAME!!
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I will not feel shame for complying with current laws, rules, regulations and neither should other people. What on earth is obvious probability? If you don’t have symptoms but still might be sick?
Lawmakers and companies such as airlines are able to implement tight regulations for travelling, if they choose not to, why should people feel ashamed?
They always magically “felt the sniffles as the plane was in the air”
Sure…
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What’s legal and what’s ethical are often two very different things.
We’re talking about the people who come back after they started developing symptoms, or who report that they began experiencing minor symptoms while in the air. That these people didn’t know or suspect that they were sick is not credible. The “I got a cough while on the airplane” stories are not believable.
By getting on a plane knowing or suspecting they are sick but not disclosing that to the airline and other passengers they are putting other people at risk. Taiwan is one of the very few countries with no local transmission of the virus and the more people coming back who are unnecessarily exposed, the greater the risk that the virus could eventually slip through.
Here’s an idea: if you choose to be overseas during a pandemic, you should be prepared to receive medical care where you are. And if you want to come back to your home country, you should do so ASAP, not when you think you might be sick.
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Yeah but “ethical” is not an absolute term so going by legal should be enough here. I’m not encouraging people to travel while sick and it would be better if they didn’t. But if the authorities or airlines were concerned, then they would (and should) put a stop to it.
Here’s another idea: be prepared that people around you might be sick, even if they don’t display symptoms. So it’s a risk anyone who choose to travel should account for and prepare for.
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How? How would the authorities and airlines know that any person boarding a plane knew or suspected they were sick?
Taiwan says citizens and residents have a right to come back, which I agree with. But they’re apparently not prepared to do anything about people who knowingly endanger others on their return back, which would be a political thicket of thorns.
Of course people should do this. But not everyone is traveling for leisure, and there’s still a big difference between traveling in good faith (not knowing or believing you’re sick) and traveling in bad faith (knowing or believing that you’re sick).
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They would have symptoms, no? Fever, cough, sneezing…
Here are a few possible solutions from the top of my head, they are not very thought through but my point is that if it was harder to travel then people might think twice before doing it. But personally I don’t like any of these suggestions aside from the protective gear one as I feel it might end up hurting the poor while rich people still could do as they please. 
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Tests. Aside from a recent, negative PCR test, one of those less reliable speed tests can be done at the airport. Restrict even the false positives just to be sure.
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Force everyone to wear hazmat suits and whatnot, this picture is from Forumosa I think.
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Have a “quarantine part” in the airport and on the plane and seat everyone with symptoms there to keep them away from the supposedly healthy people.
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Fine anyone who gets caught, both by the airline and the countries they go back to.
I also like and agree with countries that let their citizens/residents come back. It’s not easy to get sick in a foreign country, let alone a sickness that you know you might die from. People feel vulnerable, they are scared and probably alone, what’s wrong with them wanting to go back to their home countries? Especially when it’s being made possible by the airlines and their respective country.
Maybe but even so people might get sick while on the plane or not have symptoms so everyone should still mask up and accept the consequences of possibly getting sick while travelling so it doesn’t matter. It’s not the travelers that should be ashamed but the greedy airlines and leaders who care more about votes than protecting their country.
FYI, I don’t think anyone should feel ashamed, I think it’s good that there are opportunities for everyone to travel back home if they need to, sick or not.