The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 15 new cases of COVID-19, most of whom had studied or worked in the US or the UK before returning home, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 267.
The 267 cases include 30 people who have been discharged from quarantine facilities and two deaths, CECC data showed.
The new cases were six women and nine men, all Taiwanese, who had returned from the US, the UK, the Philippines, Australia or central America between March 15 and Wednesday, the data showed.
Photo: CNA
With most of the nation’s cases being imported, home quarantine is a second crucial front line after the border to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said at a news conference in Taipei.
While a 14-day home quarantine can be stressful, people should comply with regulations to help stop the virus spreading, he said.
People who want to visit sick relatives or attend funerals should use videotelephony software, rather than leaving home, Chen said, adding that crowds at funerals pose a major risk.
Those found leaving quarantine facilities face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$1 million (US$3,307 to US$33,073), while patients receive NT$1,000 per day if they do not break the law, he said.
After receiving a quarantine notice, people should comply with the required sampling procedure and investigation, he added.
If they fail to appear within 24 hours of the notice being sent, the police would search for them, Chen said.
Taiwan has been able to control the coronavirus outbreak due to the cooperation of the public, because health workers have been able to separate infected patients from healthy people and because they have been able to contact those who require testing, he said.
There are 1,110 negative-pressure isolation beds in the nation, nearly 40 percent of which are not occupied, Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said, adding that the beds are not necessary for treating COVID-19 patients as ordinary single rooms are also viable.
The public does not need to worry about the number of hospital beds available, as the authorities have been monitoring the distribution of beds, Chou said.
In related news, Deputy Minister of Labor Liu Shih-hao (劉士豪) announced that, starting from 4pm yesterday, companies that want to employ foreign blue-collar workers would need to have a quarantine plan approved in advance.
Single rooms, entrance controls and disinfection measures must be included in the plan, and local authorities would need to inspect and pass the facilities before the migrant workers could be hired, he said.
Companies are being advised to hire migrant workers already in the nation or unemployed Taiwanese, he added.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS