Taiwanese in China’s Hubei Province are to be allowed to return to the nation on their own starting tomorrow, when the CPBL would be able to admit up to 1,000 spectators to baseball games, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads of the center, said that Taiwanese in China’s Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, would not be required to take chartered flights or quasi-chartered flights from designated airports to return home.
The Chinese government imposed an unprecedented lockdown of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei on Jan. 23, leaving more than 1,000 Taiwanese, as well as their Chinese spouses and children, stranded in the province.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The CECC in late February announced that the National Immigration Agency had marked the identification papers of the Taiwanese in Hubei, and that they would only be allowed to return on chartered flights.
Chen said the special markings would not be removed to allow immigration officers at airports to identify Taiwanese returning from Hubei, and that they would be required to stay at a centralized quarantine facility for 14 days before returning home.
Meanwhile, from tomorrow, up to 1,000 spectators would be able attend each CPBL game, he said.
Photo: Seanwen Yang, courtesy of the Yushan National Park Administrative Office
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the center, said that online reservations for lodges in national parks with mountains — including Yushan (玉山), Taroko (太魯閣) and Shei-Pa (雪霸) national parks — would be reopened today.
Chen announced that one new imported COVID-19 case (No. 439) was confirmed yesterday.
The case is a woman in her 30s, who had worked in the UK since January and returned to Taiwan on Apr. 26.
The woman reported that she had a stuffy nose and felt fatigued when she returned to Taiwan, so she received a COVID-19 test at the airport and was taken to a centralized quarantine facility, but was moved to a quarantine hotel the next day as the test came back negative, he said.
She continued to have a runny and stuffy nose, and developed an abnormal sense of taste during her stay at the hotel, so she was tested again on Monday and the result came back positive, Chen said.
CECC advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said that the woman thought she might have been experiencing menstrual fatigue on her trip back to Taiwan, so the center could not pinpoint when her COVID-19 symptoms began.
Applications for the Executive Yuan’s extended COVID-19 relief program — a one-time payment of NT$10,000 to workers not covered by social insurance programs — opened yesterday.
The center is grateful to officials at local district offices for handling the extra work, Chen said.
Those eligible are urged to not all apply on the first few days, as it would cause the offices to be overcrowded, he added.
The applications would be reviewed generously, promptly and in a way that is convenient to applicants, he said, adding that if people cannot provide documents to prove their eligibility, their application would most likely be accepted if they sign an affidavit.
About 99 percent of people who are not covered by any social insurance program and have very little savings should be trusted as long as they sign the affidavit, Chen said, adding that they would need to write a brief description of how their jobs have been affected by the pandemic.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS