People who refuse to wear a mask on public transportation after being asked to do so would face a NT$3,000 to NT$15,000 fine, effective immediately, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday after announcing nine additional COVID-19 cases.
In a move to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications on Tuesday announced that people must wear masks on trains and intercity buses, while Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, on Tuesday said that people should wear them when they cannot maintain a social distance of 1.5m indoors.
Chen yesterday added that the government would fine those who do not wear masks on public transportation after being asked to, citing the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法).
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Service personnel at Taiwan Railways Administration and High-Speed Rail stations from Tuesday have been directing people to convenience stores to buy masks if they do not have one, said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is also deputy head of the center.
Fines on local buses and MRT systems would be handled by local governments, while those on nationwide systems would be managed by the transportation ministry, Chen Tsung-yen said.
The center would ask the transportation ministry to negotiate with local governments over which party is to be responsible for fines issued on buses that operate across municipalities, he said.
Later yesterday, the Taipei City Government said in a news release that it would follow the center’s instruction to implement the policy immediately.
Meanwhile, the CECC yesterday reported nine additional cases of COVID-19 — seven imported and two locally transmitted — bringing the nation’s total to 348.
The imported cases, five women and two men, are all Taiwanese who had traveled to Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Thailand, the UK or the US before returning to Taiwan between March 14 and Wednesday, CECC data showed.
One of the two locally transmitted cases was No. 343, a woman in her 60s who developed symptoms on March 20 after her husband on March 17 returned from the US, Chen Shih-chung said.
The CECC would test her husband for the virus to clarify the transmission path, he said.
Case No. 347 is a woman in her 40s who had contact with case No. 336, a female security guard for an apartment complex in northern Taiwan whose case was reported on Thursday, the data showed.
The security guard transmitted the virus to the woman, a resident in the complex, possibly because the two had chatted without wearing masks, Chen Shih-chung said.
It might not be necessary to reveal the location of the residential complex, as the CECC has all the footage from its surveillance cameras, which helped clarify the guard’s contact history, he added.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old