Taiwan yesterday again registered no new cases of COVID-19 — the third time this week — as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that travelers arriving from Southeast Asia, where the pandemic appears to be getting worse, would be the focus of stricter screening.
With no additional cases reported on Tuesday, Thursday and yesterday, Taiwan maintained its tally of confirmed infections at 395, including six deaths.
Of the 395 cases, 340 were imported and 55 were local infections, while 166 patients have been discharged from quarantine facilities following treatment, the center’s data showed.
Photo: EPA
Asked if reporting zero new cases again means that the disease is abating in Taiwan, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) told a daily news conference at the center in Taipei that while this might be the case, based on US standards, an epidemic can only be said to be abating when the number of new cases continues to drop for two consecutive weeks.
In that case, Taiwan’s situation can be described as “stable,” as the number of locally transmitted cases was either zero or one over the past few days, he said, while urging people to continue observing preventive measures.
Over the past week, the number of tests conducted daily for possible infection has dropped from nearly 1,300 to 1,100 to 900, CECC advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.
In its investigations of cluster infections, the center did not find people without symptoms, which means asymptomatic people did not cause any community spread, he said.
As the disease seems to be spiraling out of control in Southeast Asia, where some countries are not as transparent about information, the center is mulling stricter quarantine measures for travelers arriving from the region, as it has done with those from Europe and the US, said Chen, who heads the center.
Prior to the news briefing, a Taipei-based food courier union staged a protest outside the center, calling for attention to be paid to the risks couriers face.
Some couriers did not know their customers were in home quarantine or isolation until apartment managers told them, union chairman Chen Hung-jui (陳泓瑞) said.
The government and food delivery platform operators have not provided couriers with a quota of masks, making them potential loopholes in disease prevention efforts, lawyer Chen Yu-hsin (陳又新) said, urging authorities to improve their working conditions.
Chen Shih-chung said that the center would meet with representatives of food couriers and postal workers, and soon release guidelines for protecting the delivery industry.
To ease the burden on pharmacies selling masks, pharmacists may close their stores on Sundays from this weekend, he said.
Asked about a UK think tank’s index that ranked Taiwan as the seventh-safest nation amid the pandemic — behind China in fifth place — Chen Shih-chung said that he was at first surprised to see countries that have reported more deaths rank better.
However, after studying the evaluation criteria used for the index, he said that he found it placed more emphasis on the procedures than the results of a nation’s quarantine policies.
As Taiwan has not conducted large-scale screening like other nations, the statistics cited by the index might not show its strength, he said, adding that the center could discuss the evaluation with the think tank.
Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that another automatic 30-day visa extension has been granted to foreign visitors who entered Taiwan on or before March 21, citing increased travel restrictions worldwide amid the pandemic.
The announcement followed an initial automatic 30-day visa extension the ministry granted on March 21.
“All travelers who entered Taiwan on or before March 21 on a visitor visa, a landing visa or through a visa-waiver program who have not overstayed their legal stay period would be granted a second automatic 30-day extension,” with no application required, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said in a news release.
The total period of stay cannot exceed 180 days, it said, adding that the conditions are subject to change or may be adjusted as circumstances require.
Additional reporting by CNA
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in