Changhua health chief defends rapid test campaignBy Chang Tsung-chiu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerChanghua County Public Health Bureau Director Yeh Yen-po (葉彥伯) yesterday defended the county’s testing of people under home quarantine who have no symptoms of COVID-19, saying that if he could turn back the clock, he would have made the same decision. Yeh had instructed the county to conduct a pathology investigation for COVID-19 and since April has been conducting rapid diagnostic tests of people under home quarantine who have no symptoms. He was a Taiwanese teen living in the US who arrived on Aug. 5 for a family visit. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, on Tuesday instructed the health ministry’s Department of Civil Service Ethics to launch an investigation into the bureau to clarify the matter. Chen on Thursday said he understood Yeh’s position that studies support testing asymptomatic people for COVID-19, but the bureau should have informed the CECC first.

Source: Taipei Times August 21, 2020 15:56 UTC