A non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps migrant workers on Saturday distributed more than 1,000 medical-grade masks to migrant fishers in Yilan County.
Members of the Migrant Workers’ Concern Desk from Saint Christopher’s Church in Taipei distributed the masks, along with about 200 donated jackets and sweaters to hundreds of migrant fishers.
Father Gioan Tran Van Thiet, the church’s assistant parish priest, who visits migrant fishers in Yilan weekly, said the masks were donated by Philippine migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.
He said that fishers who live and sleep in cramped conditions on fishing boats can be vulnerable to infections.
Nguyen Van Va, who is from Vietnam’s Nghe An Province, said he really appreciated the masks and was unaware that Taiwan had implemented mask rationing.
“My employer did not tell me anything,” he said. “The last time I purchased masks was last year and this year I have been working long hours and I did not have time to go and buy masks.”
Demand for masks has surged amid fears over the spread of COVID-19, and shortages have forced the government to ration purchases to two per person per week at pharmacies contracted by the National Health Insurance system.
Marites Lopez Hingpis, a caregiver in the county’s Nanfangao (南方澳) port, said she frequently needs to accompany her patient to hospital, but her employer does not provide masks.
The measures announced by the Ministry of Labor on Jan. 30 to help combat the spread of the virus require employers to provide masks to employees if the employees’ jobs involve them visiting hospitals.
There are more than 2,000 migrant fishers in the Yilan area, the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union said.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS