Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday said it would delay an expected announcement easing the country’s indoor mask mandate, citing both public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented.

Earlier this week, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (???) said a plan to ease Taiwan’s indoor mask regulations was being worked out with officials from the relevant Cabinet ministries, and that details would be unveiled on Thursday.

At a Thursday press briefing, however, CECC chief Victor Wang (???) said that the new policy was still being reviewed, and would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors.

First, Wang said, Taiwan has seen a rise in hospital bed occupancy after the Lunar New Year holiday, likely due to an increased number of heart attacks and strokes brought on by the recent cold weather.

Although many of the hospitalizations were not COVID-19-related, there has been a slight “tightening” of available hospital capacity, he said.

According to data released by the CECC Thursday, 2,894 of the country’s total of 5,609 hospital beds, or 51.6 percent, are currently occupied.

The second factor in the delay is that easing the mask mandate will affect multiple sectors of Taiwanese society, Wang said, and thus needs to be adequately communicated with all stakeholders beforehand.

As an example, he cited the issue of mask regulations in schools, with many set to return from winter vacation on Feb. 13.

In this area, Wang said, the CECC is still collecting feedback on the draft policy from various parents and teachers’ groups.

The third reason, Wang said, is that COVID-19 infections have rebounded over the past few days, most likely because of under reporting during the Lunar New Year.

While the bump is expected to be temporary, the CECC nevertheless “wants to observe [the case numbers] for a few days to see if they begin to drop or stabilize,” he said.

Asked when he expected the CECC to make the announcement, Wang said it would depend primarily on the “resolution” of the aforementioned issues, but will “not necessarily” have to wait until schools go back into session.

During the press briefing, Wang also teased a “major change” in May, saying that if Taiwan downgrades COVID-19’s communicable disease classification as planned, the CECC could be downgraded or deactivated entirely.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel