Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday promoted the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) from a “level 2” to a “level 1” government entity to streamline communication and better contain the spread of COVID-19, while Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) would continue to serve as head of the center.
Chen at the weekly Cabinet meeting suggested that Su promote the CECC to a “level 1” entity, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka said, adding that Su accepted the suggestion and reappointed Chen as head of center.
With the COVID-19 outbreak escalating around the world, “the best defense for Taiwan is a good offense, which is the front line of disease prevention to preempt a major outbreak,” Su said.
Photo: CNA
Despite its proximity to China, the nation has been able to restrict COVID-19 to “minor community outbreaks,” mostly contagion within families, which shows that Chen is the most fitting candidate to serve as CECC head, Kolas said in response to queries as to why the premier had chosen Chen instead of himself for the job.
The promotion to “level 1” would facilitate the distribution of resources and communication between relevant government agencies, whose deputy ministers would be required to be on standby at the CECC at all times to attend regular meetings, Kolas said.
Chen told a later news conference that he had made the suggestion after seeing other nations accumulate more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in less than five days.
Chen thanked Su for having faith in him and pledged to take preemptive measures to contain the coronavirus.
Hospitals are to set aside more wards to be used as isolation wards in the case of an emergency, Chen said, adding that this would likely increase the nation’s capacity to screen the disease to 2,450 people per day starting next week.
Earlier, with the Tomb Sweeping Holiday approaching, Su ordered government agencies to inform Taiwanese businesspeople and students returning from affected nations and regions to monitor their health at home for 14 days upon their arrival.
They should be informed upon boarding their flights of the penalties they would face if they leave home during the quarantine period, he said.
Su also approved a plan by Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) for the nation to set up an extra 30 mask production lines.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is carrying out a plan to add 60 production lines by March 10, which would bring the nation’s daily production to about 10 million masks, Small and Medium Enterprise Administration Director-General Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) said.
The 30 extra lines would further boost the nation’s mask production to between 12 million and 13 million per day, Ho said, without giving a time frame for when the additional lines would be completed.
Additional reporting by Lin Hui-chin
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue
RSS