For the first time in more than a month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported no new cases of COVID-19.
The last time no new confirmed cases were announced was on March 9, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at a news briefing in Taipei.
While the pandemic is not over yet, having no new cases is still worth being happy about, said Chen, who heads the center.
Photo: CNA
As of yesterday, there were 393 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan — 338 imported and 55 local — the center said.
There have been six deaths so far, while 124 patients have been released from quarantine, up from 114 on Monday, it said.
Meanwhile, National Taiwan Normal University said that the first student at the school to test positive for COVID-19 was discharged from hospital on Monday.
The student, who tested positive on March 30, was discharged after testing negative for the virus three times, the university said in a statement.
A second case at the school — a roommate of the first case — was confirmed on Wednesday last week, it said.
All of those who had been ordered to isolate at home or self-manage their health due to possible contact with the two students completed the 14-day period on Monday, it said.
However, since the situation has not yet subsided, the school would continue to remain vigilant, and routinely clean and disinfect its premises, as well as take other preventive measures, it said.
Distance learning at the school began on Monday last week and is to continue through Friday, the university added.
The CECC yesterday also announced that starting today, masks designed for children aged four to eight would be available for preorder online.
The masks are about 8cm by 12cm when folded, it said.
The center would also reinstate an age restriction on purchases of children’s masks.
Nearly one-quarter of children’s masks have been purchased using National Health Insurance (NHI) cards belonging to adults since the practice was allowed, it said.
Starting on Thursday next week, only NHI cards belonging to children aged 16 and under can be used to purchase children’s masks to ensure that children are given priority, it said.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS