Starting this week, Chunghwa Post is to be in charge of delivering 75 percent alcohol used as a disinfectant to protect against COVID-19, the postal company said yesterday.
The state-run firm undertook the task after it was last week ordered to deliver masks to be sold at National Health Insurance (NHI) partner pharmacies.
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTLC) produces the 75 percent alcohol, Department of Mail Business and Operations head Chen Ching-hsiang (陳敬祥) said.
Photo: CNA
TTLC would first deliver the alcohol to 23 postal service hubs, from which couriers would deliver it to the NHI’s 5,660 partner pharmacies nationwide, he said.
Chen said that each partner pharmacy would receive three boxes, each containing 24 300ml bottles of alcohol.
As alcohol is flammable, couriers would be required to deliver the boxes in four-wheeled vehicles or larger trucks that are equipped with fire extinguishers, Chen said.
They would also be told to place the boxes in plastic containers for enhanced safety, he added.
Delivering masks and alcohol would increase couriers’ workloads, but many of them feel honored to be part of national disease-prevention efforts, Chen said.
Chunghwa Post would pay couriers overtime or allow them to take compensatory days off due to their increased workload, he said, adding that it would also have to employ more couriers.
The demand for additional couriers is urgent, as from today, the number of masks to be delivered by Chunghwa Post is to increase from 1.65 million to 3.96 million per day, Chen said.
TRAVEL FACTOR: The party’s chairman said that the key to a successful recall of the Kaohsiung mayor was turnout among young voters from outside the city More than 55 percent of Kaohsiung residents said that Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) should be recalled, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday, citing a poll. The COVID-19 situation and turnout among young people would be two key factors determining whether Han is removed from office, the NPP said. The telephone survey showed that 59.5 percent of respondents said they would vote in the recall election, down 6.1 percentage points from the results of a similar poll last month. Those who said that Han should be recalled rose 4.3 percentage points to 56.4 percent, while 28.9 percent said they disagreed with the
Wecare Kaohsiung founder Aaron Yin (尹立) yesterday filed a complaint against the Kaohsiung City Government for launching a NT$50 million (US$1.67 million) stimulus program to boost consumer spending, which Yin said has contravened the law, as it uses public money to counter a recall vote against Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜). Yin and his lawyer went to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office to file a complaint and ask that an investigation be launched. They accused the city government of wrongdoing, illegal activities, undue profiteering and contravening the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法). Han on Tuesday unveiled the program, which is to
’DESPERATION’: Reminiscent of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Beijing is taking a calculated risk by acting first and resolving recriminations later, Wu Rwei-ren said China is sounding the battle horn for a new US-China cold war by proposing a national security law for Hong Kong while the West is preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic, an academic said yesterday. Academia Sinica Institute of Taiwan History associate research fellow Wu Ruei-ren (吳叡人) made the comments at a news conference in Taipei, saying that he was representing the Economic Democracy Union’s research branch. The resolution signals China’s abandonment of the “one country, two systems” framework, as it prepares to take full control of Hong Kong, ending the era of Hong Kong as an international financial center, which was made
Suspension of the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例) would be the equivalent of cutting off Hong Kong, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday. “Without [the act], how will you stand with the people of Hong Kong?” Chiang asked outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Sunday wrote on Facebook that Taiwan, like all democratic nations, stands with the people of Hong Kong as she expressed concern over China’s plan to impose a national security law for Hong Kong. For security reasons, Tsai said her administration would consider invoking Article 60 of
RSS