With confirmed daily COVID-19 cases climbing to more than 30,000, the public seems to be at a loss about what to do during the outbreak. Long lines have formed outside pharmacies selling rapid antigen test kits, while hospitals are crowded with people waiting to be examined.
Unfortunately, some media outlets are having a field day with the turmoil, and causing fear among the public by focusing on minor cases with severe symptoms.
Meanwhile, many countries that have responded worse than Taiwan to the COVID-19 pandemic are lifting or easing restrictions. This is because even though it is highly contagious, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has a significantly lower fatality rate, and those who are infected usually have no or mild symptoms.
Due to its high level of transmissibility, governments were unwilling to adopt a “zero COVID-19” strategy. After weighing the pros and cons of lockdowns, most leaders decided to coexist with the virus, relax containment policies and gradually bring life back to normal.
For example, South Korea last month downgraded COVID-19 to a “Class 2” disease alongside conditions such as tuberculosis and cholera. Those who test positive would not be required to quarantine, and doctors do not need to report cases immediately. People with COVID-19 can go to the nearest hospital for diagnosis instead of having to report to certain hospitals for quarantine.
The South Korean government is to stop covering the cost of COVID-19 treatment. It has also lifted an outdoor mask mandate, except at social gatherings with more than 50 people.
In Singapore, fully vaccinated travelers no longer need to take COVID-19 tests before departure. From April 26, social gatherings would no longer be limited to 10 people, and people do not need to maintain a distance of 1.5m from each other. All public spaces can be used in their entirety, and the government would not carry out contact tracing. Restaurant owners do not have to check a customers’ vaccination status anymore, except at social gatherings with more than 500 people or dance clubs.
Western countries are gearing up for the post-pandemic economy.
Air Canada said that it expects its capacity to reach 80 percent of 2019 levels, and is targeting a full recovery by 2024. With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions worldwide, airlines are looking to increase capacity to make up for the lost revenues during the past two years.
As a shining light in the fight against COVID-19, Taiwan should not have had issues doing likewise and returning to normal. Nevertheless, it is showing signs of grappling with the most recent outbreak, in terms of the public psyche and political ploys.
During the pandemic, some media and political opponents found ways to politicize COVID-19 and undermine Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) at every possible turn. When there were few confirmed cases, they clamored for him to run for Taipei mayor for his outstanding leadership. When cases started to rise, they called for him to back out due to a drop in opinion polls.
When asked about his mayoral intentions, Chen has never wavered in his answer — he is focusing on the task at hand. When interviewed about the Democratic Progressive Party’s plans for Chen, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) similarly said that Chen is too occupied with quelling the pandemic to spare a thought for elections.
Disease prevention concerns the health and welfare of a nation, and the media should refrain from stirring up hearsay and rumors.
As the world transitions to the “new normal,” Taiwan is also seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. The fight against COVID-19 has been like taking a flight, where takeoff and landing are the most critical phases.
During its “takeoff” stage, thanks to the early warnings of Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), Taiwan kept the worst of COVID-19 at bay. Once in the air, with Chen in the cockpit, the nation has had a relatively smooth flight other than a few bumps.
As the journey nears its end, it is critical to have a safe “landing.” No one would argue that it is wise to change pilots mid-flight. Before the pandemic is over, stop pestering Chen about the Taipei mayoral race and let this experienced pilot do his job: to land the plane safely and guide the nation out of the pandemic.
Tommy Lin is director of Wu Fu Eye Clinic and president of the Formosa Republican Association.
Translated by Rita Wang
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
On May 13, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to Article 6 of the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of nuclear reactors from 40 to 60 years, thereby providing a legal basis for the extension or reactivation of nuclear power plants. On May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators used their numerical advantage to pass the TPP caucus’ proposal for a public referendum that would determine whether the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should resume operations, provided it is deemed safe by the authorities. The Central Election Commission (CEC) has
RSS