The government will announce details about its plan to requisition COVID-19 rapid tests in the next two days, while also trying to lower test prices, Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (???) said Wednesday.

Opposition legislators have called on the government during the past week to regulate the supply of rapid tests and keep prices down, citing an increased need for such tests due to a rise in domestic cases and the high price of these tests in Taiwan compared to the international average.

When asked on Wednesday whether the government was planning on requisitioning COVID-19 rapid tests, Chen said that the authorities were making relevant plans and would report the details in the next two days.

“We will try our best to keep prices as low as reasonably possible,” he said.

After government requisitioning begins, people will still be able to buy rapid tests at places where they are currently sold, and tests will also be handed out in areas deemed as high-risk for COVID-19, Chen said.

It is also possible that the government will allocate a set amount per person over a period of time to guarantee that everyone would be able to buy a test, similar to how surgical masks were rationed at the beginning of the pandemic, Chen said.

Following Keelung’s distribution of rapid tests to some of its citizens last week, the other three cities listed as high-risk — Taipei, New Taipei, and Taoyuan — have expressed an interest in similar schemes, so the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) will send 200,000 tests each to the three cities, Chen said.

According to Taipei Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan (???), the tests given to Taipei will be handed out in schools across the city and to Zhongshan District residents, as the area has seen recent clusters linked to clubs and bars.

Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (???) said Tuesday that his city would also be distributing tests to schools to try and catch cases that had so far gone undetected.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel