Taipei, July 29 (CNA) Taiwan is set to roll back a luggage disinfection procedure for inbound flights meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to save passengers 40-50 minutes in clearing checkpoints, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday.

The disinfection regimen of luggage for flights arriving in Taiwan, including connecting flights, will be simplified, effective from July 30, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) told a news conference.

Currently, the regimen requires luggage in cargo holds of passenger airplanes and on conveyor belts to be fully sanitized before they are ready for pickup, which takes 40 to 50 minutes on average.

According to the CECC's statement earlier this week, visitors would spend an average of one to two hours clearing border checkpoints, including filing out an online health declaration form, undergoing saliva screening for COVID-19, and waiting for luggage disinfection, and might wait as long as 2.5 hours during peak hours.

The CECC has reviewed the inspection process and considered it appropriate to discontinue the disinfection of luggage in cargo holds of arriving passenger airplanes and on transit flights, Chuang said.

(By Shen Pei-yao, Chang Ming-hsuan and Shih Hsiu-chuan)