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
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS