A Taipei resident who had breached his home quarantine order was found on Tuesday night in an Internet cafe and fined NT$1 million (US$32,976), Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday, as the Taipei City Government announced a short-term COVID-19 relief plan.
Huang on Tuesday afternoon publicized the name of the man, Chen Tse (陳冊), who on Saturday last week returned from Beijing and was ordered to undergo 14-day home quarantine.
However, city monitoring officials were unable to contact him by mobile phone or at his home.
Photo: Liu Ching-hou, Taipei Times, from a police photograph
Chen was found by police at an Internet cafe on Nanyang Street, Huang said yesterday, adding that he had not returned to his home, but rather had been at the cybercafe since returning to Taiwan.
After locating Chen, police immediately asked him to don full protective clothing and took him to Taipei City Hospital’s Heping branch to be tested for the coronavirus, she said.
The city government would ask if he could be admitted to the central government’s centralized quarantine center if he tests negative, she added.
“The Taipei Department of Health is to impose the heaviest fine of NT$1 million for breaching his home quarantine order for more than 72 hours,” Huang said, urging people not to defy such orders, as breaking quarantine could not only cause harm to themselves, but also other people.
As the number of people placed in home isolation or quarantine has increased rapidly, borough wardens and city officials are overworked, she said.
The central government should allow local governments to recruit volunteers to help provide care for people in home isolation or quarantine, Huang said, adding that it should also consider giving officials and volunteers special subsidies.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant negative economic effects, the city government has drafted a short-term relief plan to help prevent businesses from closing, which would cause a wave of unemployment.
The plan is comprised of six main measures: delaying tax payments; cutting water prices; reducing rent for city government-owned properties; rolling back interest rates at Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank and public pawnshops; and lowering house and entertainment taxes, he said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from