ENFORCING CAUTION: Certain entertainment facilities are to close nationwide to prevent people traveling there from high-risk areas in the north, the center said
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday raised the COVID-19 alert for Taipei and New Taipei City to level 3 in light of surging cases in the two cities. The enhanced disease prevention measures for level 3 are to be implemented until May 28, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a morning news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei. With 180 locally transmitted cases confirmed yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that the government must take immediate action to protect the public, referring to measures stipulated in the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). Other counties
TRACING TROUBLE: An infected man who had said that all his children were abroad was found to have a daughter in Kaohsiung who tested positive, the center said
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported a new daily record of 29 local COVID-19 cases, including seven cases with unknown sources of infection. Of the 29 cases, 16 are linked to tea houses in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news briefing in Taipei. The 16 are tea house workers or visitors, or their contacts, the CECC said. Workers and visitors to the establishments have frequent interpersonal contact, but few protective measures against the COVID-19 pandemic are in place, Chen said, urging those who have been exposed or have
GRID PROBLEM: A Taipower spokesman said that the blackouts were not due to usage exceeding supply, nor were they because of a problem at the Singda plant
There were rolling blackouts across Taiwan yesterday due to a grid malfunction at the Singda Power Plant (興達電廠) in Kaohsiung’s Yongan District (永安), while Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said that it was working “as hard as possible to resolve the issue as soon as possible.” At 2:37pm, a malfunction at an ultra-high-voltage substation in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) triggered four generators at the Singda plant to go offline, cutting power output by 2.2 million kilowatts and prompting Taipower to initiate rolling blackouts nationwide as it worked on the problem. Taipower spokesman Chang Ting-shu (張廷抒) told a news conference in Taipei that
ON ALERT: Fifty-eight of the new locally acquired cases in Taipei are in Wanhua District, and 32 of the new cases in New Taipei City are in Banciao District
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) strongly urged everyone to thoroughly practice the “new disease prevention lifestyle” and avoid unnecessary outings and gatherings, as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) confirmed 206 new local COVID-19 cases yesterday. The local cases include 90 males and 116 females, aged from under five years old to older than 80, he said, adding that the onset of symptoms or their testing dates were between April 6 and Saturday. They include 97 New Taipei City residents, 89 Taipei residents, nine from Changhua County, three each in Yilan County and Hsinchu County, two each in Taoyuan
RISING TRANSMISSION: The center yesterday reported 333 domestic cases, including 241 cases linked to a cluster of infections from Taipei’s Wanhua District
From 12am tomorrow to June 18, foreign nationals who do not hold a valid Alien Resident Certificate or resident visa will not be allowed to enter Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday, as it reported 333 local and two imported cases of COVID-19. Transits through Taiwan will also be suspended during the month-long period, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. “The policy is aimed at conserving the nation’s disease prevention capacity,” he said. Although there had been few imported COVID-19 cases in the past few days, inbound travelers would still take up some
SURPRISE: The 10% positivity rate at screening centers in Wanhua District was the same as during the peak of New York’s outbreak, a hospital deputy superintendent said
The next two weeks are critical for containing the COVID-19 outbreak, which hinges on the cooperation of confirmed cases and the public, infectious-disease experts said on Saturday. After a sharp spike in cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center on Saturday raised the pandemic alert for Taipei and New Taipei City to level 3 until May 28. While serious, Taiwan would make it through if the outbreak is contained over the next two weeks, said Chen Yee-chun (陳宜君), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s (NTUH) Division of Infectious Diseases. Cases have been climbing so rapidly due in part to the reluctance of confirmed cases
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Citibank Taiwan Ltd (花旗台灣) NT$10 million (US$357,194) and DBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) NT$6 million for breaches of the nation’s anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The NT$10 million fine is the highest penalty that it has imposed on a domestic bank, the commission said. Citibank Taiwan failed to set up a sound mechanism for evaluating clients’ risk of money laundering and for detecting suspicious transactions, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Huang Kuang-hsi (黃光熙) told a news conference in New Taipei City. The bank based its AML policies on those of its US-based parent company, Citigroup Inc, but the policies
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced six main guidelines for enhanced measures to prevent transmission of COVID-19 in local communities. Following a cluster of cases among China Airlines (華航) pilots, workers at its quarantine facility, the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, and their family members since the middle of last month, the CECC on Tuesday reported six locally transmitted cases with unknown infection sources. On the same day, it announced that Taiwan’s COVID-19 situation has entered the “local transmission” stage, and raised the domestic warning to level 2, ordering enhanced disease prevention measures to be implemented until June 8. The
RAISED ALERT: If an average of 100 cases are reported for 14 consecutive days, a level 4 alert would be issued and travel restricted, Chen Shih-chung said
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 185 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 180 locally transmitted cases and five imported cases. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the 180 local infections included 58 men and 112 women, aged from under five years old to older than 80, and the onset of symptoms occurred between April 23 and Friday. The confirmed cases include 89 residents of Taipei, 75 residents of New Taipei City, six from Changhua County, four in Yilan County and Taoyuan, and one each in Taichung and Keelung, he said. Among the cases
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) last night implemented another rolling blackout across Taiwan, the second power outage in a week. The state-run utility said that demand for electricity exceeded supply yesterday, while the No. 1 generator at the Singda Power Plant (興達電廠) in Kaohsiung’s Yongan District (永安) malfunctioned in the afternoon, adding extra pressure. “Taipower apologizes for the inconvenience caused to the people affected,” company spokesman Chang Ting-shu (張廷抒) said. “We calculate our expected electricity needs based on historical demand, but yesterday’s demand was much higher and was not far from the all-time record.” The sudden surge in electricity consumption due to most
Tainan City Councilor Lu Kun-fu (盧崑福) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday sparked further controversy when he echoed remarks by KMT caucus whip Alex Fai (費鴻泰) that Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) should be executed for an increase in domestic COVID-19 cases. Chen heads the Central Epidemic Command Center. Lu at a question-and-answer session at the Tainan City Council said that a lapse in disease prevention measures at China Airlines, which has led to a cluster infection, could have been controlled. However, as the airline’s pilots were allowed a shortened quarantine period of three days and were placed
SUFFICIENT SUPPLY: Taiwan has an abundance of pandemic-related goods in storage, and protocols have been implemented to ensure that the supply chain is not broken
Hordes of customers descended on hypermarkets and supermarkets in Taipei and New Taipei City after the government yesterday raised the COVID-19 alert level for the two municipalities to level 3 until May 28. Earlier in the day, the Central Epidemic Command Center reported 180 new domestically transmitted cases, most of them in Taipei and New Taipei City. Despite the government urging the public to stop hoarding daily necessities, shelves were stripped bare while cashiers were working as fast as they could. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at a news conference on Friday detailed the government’s inventory of masks, medical-grade isopropyl alcohol and protective clothing,
PRIVACY SOUGHT: A testing station has been set up, but media were asked not to photograph it, as it might put people off amid a cluster linked to adult businesses
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday sent 600,000 text messages to people who had been in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) between April 15 and Wednesday, asking them to be tested at designated community facilities if they have had symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, or loss of taste or smell since April 15. The center made the announcement after reporting 25 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, 13 locally transmitted and 12 imported. Nine of the local cases were found to have dined at the same restaurant as case No. 1,203, an ex-president of a Lions Club chapter in New Taipei City’s Lujhou District
CURBING SOLO EFFORTS: Taiwan centralizes vaccine importation to ‘avoid chaos and confusion,’ the center said in response to criticism by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je
The central government alone is in charge of importing and approving the use of COVID-19 vaccines, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) yesterday told a media briefing in Taipei, responding to calls for the involvement of local governments in Taiwan’s vaccine drive. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had said that Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), concealed that local government officials could import vaccines doses through pharmaceutical companies. Chen said that those companies must apply for licenses to import drugs with the Food and Drug Administration, which can allow imports of drugs pending approval. “Drug imports must
Taiwan has finally become an ongoing public issue in Canada, due in part to its success in keeping out COVID-19, and the Chinese Communist Party’s successful efforts to offend just about everyone in Canada. Following the lead of right-wing US politicians, Canadian conservative pundits and Canadian Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Chong (莊文浩) of the Conservative Party, politicians are urging Canada to “recognize Taiwan.” There is a small problem here for Canada, which has a different history of relations with Taiwan than the US. For Canada to “recognize” Taiwan as things stand would be to re-recognize the Republic of China
A friend of mine, Katy Hui-wen Hung (洪惠文), who comes from an old, prominent family and has an abiding and deeply knowledgeable interest in Taiwan history, observed that one of the words for tomato in Hoklo (more commonly known as Taiwanese) is kamadi which appears to be taken from Tagalog, kamatis. She speculated that it moved up along the trade routes from Manila, an old trading town. Small things like imported words signal an old, deep relationship between what is now the Philippines and this place we call Taiwan. Beginning in 1968, archaeological work at Baxian cave in Taitung County’s
EYES AND EARS: The navy has commissioned the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to manufacture radars to upgrade the nation’s naval monitoring stations
A military enthusiast yesterday posted photographs of Taiwanese F-16 jets taking off from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu with two refueling aircraft, presumably returning to Taiwan from the US for upgrades. Asked about the matter, the Ministry of National Defense declined to comment. The jets had been part of training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and had briefly landed in Honolulu, where the photographer, Aeros808, had spotted them, a source said. The jets did not land in Guam, which had been done in 1996 when the US Air Force delivered F-16s to Taiwan, the source said, adding that the
‘STAY CALM’: The nation has more than 800 million masks in stock and can produce up to 40 million a day, while hand sanitizer stocks are also sufficient
The nation has an ample supply of masks to meet demand amid concerns over an increase in the number of domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday. Taiwan has more than 800 million masks in stock, with daily production of 18.3 million units on average and maximum daily capacity of 40 million units, the ministry said on Facebook. The ministry’s assurance came after Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), on Monday said that the nation has entered the community transmission stage after several new domestic
Human error was to blame for blackouts across Taiwan on Thursday, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) told a news conference yesterday, promising to compensate affected households and businesses. Taipower vice president Wang Yao-ting (王耀庭) said that the households would be granted a 5 percent discount on their electricity bills for this month and next month, while 6,300 affected high-voltage business users would get a 5 percent discount for this month. The compensations are expected to cost Taipower about NT$470 million (US$16.78 million), Wang said. The company said that a Taipower employee caused the blackouts by mistakenly turning a switch at an ultra-high-voltage
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