Double Standard in "Quasi-general Screening" in Keelung? 基隆類普篩被批雙標 陳時中澄清說明

However, the outside world questioned if this approach went against what CECC commander Chen Shih-chung said in the past. Chen emphasized that the two time periods are different. Currently, this general screening is only a trial operation in selected areas where community transmission is possibly taking place. 

The epidemic in Keelung continues to spread. The number of confirmed cases related to the small eatery has reached 68 and the number continues to increase. The Central Epidemic Command Center announced that it will implement "quasi-general screening" in Keelung. However, the outside world has questioned whether this goes against what CECC Commander Chen Shih-chung said previously that false positive and false negative results from general screenings are unbearable for Taiwan.

Chen Shih-chung, Commander, Central Epidemic Command Center: “Everyone should look at the timing of this every time. If we wanted to carry this out the previous year, we didn't have the relevant tools. If we did it last year, we would've depended on professional quick screenings. And the accuracy back then was quite lacking. At that time, the accuracy was only about 70 percent. Now, there are household quick screening kits that have become more popular. Its accuracy is also more than 90 percent. The timing is completely different.”

Chen said that the current practice of general screening is to choose places where community infection is possible. If this pilot program is successful, this model can be used in the future to prevent the virus from spreading regionally. Domestic experts and scholars believe that the focus should not be on contact tracing, but on epidemic prevention. The reason for nervousness now is that there are many breaches, leading to unknown transmission chains. The symptoms of Omicron's BA.2 variant are cough and sore throat. It is recommended that young people who are active and thus more likely to have mild symptoms or asymptomatic, go for screenings to protect the elderly who are prone to severe illness after infection.

Ho Mei-shang, Adjunct Research Fellow, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica: “The R-value of Omicron is very high, especially the BA.2 variant. All infected people are asymptomatic. So it is very difficult for us to track. If you carry out mass screenings, you have to screen several times to catch everyone that's infected.”

Lee Ping-ing, Member, Advisory Specialist Panel, CECC: “The purpose of the general screening is to find and minimize those hidden infection sources. But that doesn't mean that a negative result from a general screening is totally fine. If you have symptoms, you still need to do a PCR test.”

Lee said that Taiwan's current epidemic situation cannot be called a big outbreak, and the CECC is still moving in the direction of coexisting with the virus. In fact, the virus is everywhere in Taiwan, but Keelung is relatively serious. The CECC will only lift prevention measures when medical resources are deemed sufficient and the domestic vaccine coverage rate must reach more than 95 percent. 

基隆實施「類普篩」，有外界就質疑這和指揮官陳時中的說法不一樣，陳時中今天強調，這兩項時空完全不同, 現在僅是擇定社區傳播可能地區進行試辦，如果成功，將來區域防堵就可以沿用該模式。

基隆疫情持續延燒，小吃店相關等確診個案已經來到68案，且持續增加中，中央流行疫情指揮中心宣布，將在基隆實施「類普篩」，不過外界就質疑，這方式根本就是打臉先前指揮官陳時中說的，普篩所出現的偽陽性、偽陰性的結果，是台灣難以承受的說法。

陳時中上午立法院備詢時接受聯訪回應：「唉！其實大家要看每一個時候，如果說前年你要做，你就沒有這些相關的東西，去年要做，那時候主要都是專業用的快篩，而且那時候的精確度，也相當的不足，那時候(精確度)大概只有7成，現在是有家用的快篩已經比較普及，它的準確度也到達9成以上，這兩個時空是完全不一樣的。」

陳時中表示，目前類普篩這個做法擇定有社區傳播可能的地方做試辦計畫，若成功的話，將來區域防堵就可以沿用這樣的模式。

國內專家學者則認為，現在的重點不是疫調，而是防疫，現在較為緊張的理由就是因為破口很多，導致不明傳播鏈，且Omicron的BA.2變異株症狀都是咳嗽、喉嚨痛等，建議活動力大、較可能輕症、無症狀的年輕人一定要去篩檢，以保護染疫後易重症的長者。

中研院生醫所兼任研究員何美鄉表示：「Omicron的R值非常高，尤其是BA.2(變異株)它基本上所有受到感染的人，都是沒有症狀。所以它這個是我們很難去追蹤，你普篩也要普篩好幾次，才可以把所有的人都抓出來。」

中央流行疫情指揮中心專家諮詢小組委員李秉穎認為：「類普篩的目的是要找，盡量減少那些隱藏的、沒有被診斷出來的傳染源，但是並不是說，普篩陰性就是完全沒事。如果是有類似新冠的症狀，還是要去做核酸的檢驗。」

李秉穎表示，台灣目前的疫情還稱不上大爆發，指揮中心仍是往與病毒共存的方向前進，其實全台灣到處都有病毒，只是基隆比較嚴重而已，何時可以解封端看是否能夠確保重症醫療、醫院收治量能，且國內疫苗覆蓋率要達95%以上，才比較安全讓人安心。