The Executive Yuan last night announced new measures to regulate purchases of masks, including requiring people to present their health insurance cards to purchase them at pharmacies.
The decision was made during a meeting presided over by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Exectuive Yuan officials said.
Effective Thursday, people will have to present their National Health Insurance (NHI) cards when purchasing masks at 6,505 contracted pharmacies across the nation, they said.
Photo: CNA
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, told a press conference at 9pm that starting today, convenience stores would stop selling masks.
People whose identification cards end with an even number can buy masks on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, while those that end with an odd number can buy masks on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he said, adding that the restriction does not apply on Sunday.
Each person can purchase only two masks every seven days, with each mask priced at NT$5, Chen said.
People can bring one family member’s NHI card to buy masks on their behalf, while children’s masks can only be purchased with an NHI card belonging to a child 12 years old or younger, he added.
The center urges people to wear masks when they visit healthcare facilities or if they have a chronic disease or respiratory problems, as well as in crowded spaces, Chen said.
People who are healthy do not have to wear a mask outdoors, he added.
The new measure was adopted on the recommendation of New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜).
“There is indeed a shortage of surgical masks,” Hou said yesterday morning. “There is a lack of transparency on information about mask manufacturers and distribution. The central government should clearly tell people how many masks each person can purchase.”
There are about 1,000 drug stores in New Taipei City, he said, adding that people are less likely to panic if they know that they can buy masks by presenting their NHI cards.
Taiwan can learn from Singapore and Macau, where people are required to present their national identification cards and household certificates to buy masks, he said.
If the government adopts such a policy, everyone would be able to purchase masks and no one would stockpile them or rush to buy more, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) agreed.
Even though the Democratic Progressive Party administration has imposed a month-long ban on mask exports, and closely monitors their purchase and distribution, most people still have trouble finding masks and have to wait in line to buy them, she said.
This shows that the government still has room for improvement in terms of regulating mask sales and increasing transparency of information, she added.
Wang also suggested that masks procured by the government be distributed to township offices and borough warden offices nationwide, to be purchased by registered residents.
Not only would this ensure that everyone has a mask, but it would also spare people the trouble of waiting in lines or being unable to find masks, she said.
Transparency is key in alleviating people’s doubts and concerns, she added.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yen-ling and CNA
Two Japanese virtual YouTubers (VTubers) were suspended by their employers on Sunday after mentioning Taiwan and showing the national flag during a livestream, stoking controversy that was inflamed further when it was discovered that their management company issued distinct apologies in Japanese and Mandarin. While reading YouTube analytics over livestream on Thursday and Friday last week, Hololive VTubers Kiryu Coco and Akai Haato named Taiwan as contributing a high percentage of viewers. Users on the Chinese video streaming platform Bilibili were quick to criticize the two and report their accounts, prompting Hololive’s parent company, Cover Corp, to suspend the streamers for three
NO SIGN OF WAR: Only if Taiwanese showed determination to defend the nation would others be willing to help in the event of a Chinese attack, the premier said Should China launch a war against Taiwan, the military would fight to the last standing person, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday, adding that the nation has fully fleshed-out defense strategies. “Beijing has continued its acts of provocation against Taiwan, but there are currently no signs that it is ready to launch a full-scale war,” Yen said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Asked how long Taiwan could withstand an attack from China, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said: “Taiwan will not fall.” Any belligerent force that initiates acts of war would pay a heavy price, and so too would Beijing,
MISTAKE: The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is not a UN body, and the government is committed to protecting the nation’s name, Joseph Wu said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy for listing Taiwanese cities as belonging to China on its Web site, and asked that it correct the error. The organization was inaugurated in Brussels in 2016 as a global coalition of mayors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Six Taiwanese cities at the time joined the coalition as cities in “Taiwan,” the ministry said. However, officials from the Kaohsiung City Government — one of the organization’s members — last week noticed that the city was now listed on the organization’s Web site as a
MOTHERLAND? Taiwanese who take part in China’s National Day celebrations could be fined NT$100,000 to NT$500,000 if found to have contravened Taiwanese laws The Ministry of Culture yesterday cautioned China-based Taiwanese artists against breaching Taiwanese law by taking part in China’s National Day celebrations. The ministry issued the statement following media reports that Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) is to sing a popular Chinese patriotic song titled My Motherland (我的祖國), and Angela Chang (張韶涵) is to sing Protect (守護) with Chinese entertainers at an event to mark China’s National Day on Thursday. The Mainland Affairs Council is investigating whether such behavior contravenes regulations in the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the ministry said. If the behavior involves matters
RSS