The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday reported no new cases of COVID-19 — the second time this week — and confirmed that Taiwanese and WHO experts had exchanged information about the pandemic via telephone a day earlier.
The center last reported zero new cases on Tuesday — the first time since March 9 that no new cases had been reported.
As of the center’s daily news briefing in Taipei yesterday, 155 confirmed patients had been released from isolation, up from 137 on Wednesday, the center said.
Photo: CNA
That was out of a total of 395 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Taiwan — 340 imported and 55 domestic — out of which six have died, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The sources of 10 local infections remain unknown, he said.
Eight have completed a 14-day observation period, while two — the nation’s 336th and 379th cases — remain under investigation, Chen said, but added that the observation period for the 336th case, which was reported on April 2, was to end yesterday.
Photo: CNA
There have been no new domestic infections reported for four consecutive days, he said.
The center last reported a local infection on Sunday — one of three new cases that day.
The center on Tuesday created a legal affairs division, headed by Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂), to provide faster and more meticulous legal assistance, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) confirmed that a telephone conversation had taken place on Wednesday between the center and WHO officials.
At a media briefing on Wednesday, WHO principal legal officer Steve Solomon said that he and WHO COVID-19 technical lead Maria van Kerkhove had spoken with Taiwanese health authorities in February and earlier that day.
In the conference call, which lasted about an hour, WHO officials briefed the center on the global COVID-19 situation, while the center shared the measures that it has taken and the situation in Taiwan, Chang said.
The WHO officials were curious about the situation in Taiwan and wanted to know how the nation is managing to contain the coronavirus so well, he said.
Taiwanese experts expressed the hope that the nation could participate in more WHO events and told the officials that Taiwan is “very willing” to share with other nations its experience containing COVID-19, he added.
Meanwhile, asked about the results of a TVBS poll showing that he would defeat Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) in a Taipei mayoral election, Chen Shih-chung said that he has no plans to run for public office.
The poll, conducted via telephone from Monday to Wednesday, found that Chen would receive 53 percent of support and Chiang would receive 36 percent in a hypothetical head-to-head election tomorrow.
‘HONORED’: The DPP’s Lin Fei-fan said friends working in the foreign media, the diplomatic corps and at think tanks congratulated him for making the sanctions list The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday slammed China for sanctioning Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and six other Taiwanese officials for being “diehard separatists,” saying its attempt to intimidate Taiwanese would backfire. China has no authority to dictate the actions of Taiwanese, because Taiwan is a democratic nation that upholds the rule of law, and would never yield to intimidation and threats from an authoritarian regime, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference in Taipei. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency earlier yesterday reported that the Taiwan Work Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee has imposed
THAI ASSISTANCE: The representative office in Thailand worked with local authorities to help trafficking victims return home, while one in the group has been charged Eight Taiwanese who were lured to Cambodia with lucrative job offers only to be forced to work illegally were brought home on Sunday night in a joint effort between Taiwanese and Thai authorities, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said. Nine people — six men and three women aged 23 to 42 — boarded China Airlines Flight CI-836 from Bangkok, with assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 9:55pm and were taken to the Aviation Police Bureau for questioning before entering home isolation in accordance with Taiwan’s COVID-19 regulations. The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday
ORDNANCE: Under a five-year plan, the Chungshan Institute would make about 200 Hsiung Feng II and III/IIIE, and Hsiung Sheng missiles, an official said The Ministry of National Defense plans to counter the Chinese navy by producing more than 1,000 anti-ship missiles over the next five years, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The comments came after China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy began a series of military drills in a simulated naval blockade of Taiwan proper following a visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Although China has in the past few years rapidly produced many warships and added them to its navy, these large vessels are more suited for warfare on the open sea than in the narrow
The organizers of WorldPride 2025 have canceled the Kaohsiung event because its licensing group, InterPride, demanded that it remove “Taiwan” from the event’s name, they said in a statement yesterday. Kaohsiung was to host WorldPride Taiwan 2025 after being granted the right by the global LGBTQ advocacy group. However, the WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee said that InterPride recently gave “abrupt notice” asking it to change the name of the event and use “Kaohsiung” instead of “Taiwan,” even though it applied for the event using “Taiwan” in its name. The name was initially chosen for its significance to the Taiwanese LGBTQ community, as