The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday raised the travel advisories for Japan and South Korea to a level 2 “alert” — “practice enhanced precautions” — after rapidly rising numbers of locally transmitted COVID-19 infections were reported.
Japan has 110 confirmed cases spread over 14 prefectures, while South Korea has 346 confirmed cases, the center said, adding that more than 70 percent of cases in both countries are suspected of being locally transmitted with an unknown source of infection, and clusters of healthcare-associated infections have been reported.
As the two countries are popular destinations among Taiwanese, the center has decided to elevate the travel advisories, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said, adding that additional border controls might be imposed if the epidemic situations deteriorate.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Travel to Japan or South Korea in the previous 30 days would also be flagged in the National Health Insurance (NHI) information of returning Taiwanese, said Chen, who heads the center.
Separately yesterday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement that Taiwan’s disease situation does not fulfill the definitions for community spread, adding that the ministry has fully explained the nation’s situation to the US.
Ou’s remarks came after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this week listed Taiwan as one of many “destinations with apparent community spread” of COVID-19, prompting a request from the ministry on Thursday for the CDC to correct Taiwan’s status.
The US replied that it understands the nation’s concern and hopes that Taiwan will provide more information to facilitate its evaluation, Ou said yesterday.
As of press time last night, no new confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported in Taiwan yesterday.
An investigation into people who came into contact with the nation’s 24th case — a woman in her 60s living in northern Taiwan who has not traveled abroad in two years — is still in progress, Chen said.
The center was originally worried about healthcare-associated infections, because the woman was not sent to an isolation ward when she was first diagnosed with pneumonia, but COVID-19 tests on 134 healthcare practitioners who had close contact with her were all negative, he said.
The center expanded the investigation to include 465 people who had close contact with the woman. Among the 181 people who have been tested, her granddaughter and daughter were on Friday confirmed as the nation’s 25th and 26th cases.
Regarding a contact investigation for the nation’s 19th confirmed case, a 61-year-old man who was the nation’s first COVID-19 fatality, Chen said that 256 people have been tested for the coronavirus.
Four people — the man’s relatives and the nation’s 20th to 23rd cases — tested positive, while all others had negative results, he said.
The center considers the cluster of cases related to the fatality “case closed,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Health Insurance Administration announced that the age limit to buy masks for children with an NHI card has been increased from 12 to 13 years.
Starting yesterday, children’s masks can be purchased at pharmacies for children born in 2007 and later, it said.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
LONG-HELD POSITION: Washington has repeatedly and clearly reiterated its support for Taiwan and its long-term policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that Taiwan should not be concerned about being used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing US-China trade talks. “I don’t think you’re going to see some trade deal where, if what people are worried about is, we’re going to get some trade deal or we’re going to get favorable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan,” Rubio told reporters aboard his airplane traveling between Israel and Qatar en route to Asia. “No one is contemplating that,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying. A US Treasury spokesman yesterday told reporters
RSS