Yesterday marked the 30th day with no new local cases of COVID-19 infection in Taiwan, while 372 people have been removed from isolation after recovering, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
“Our local communities are generally safe, as no domestic cases have been reported in 30 days,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said at a daily news conference in Taipei.
However, people should continue to follow personal protective measures, including wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, observing cough etiquette, washing their hands frequently and staying at home if they feel ill, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Clear dividers were for the first time placed on the desk where CECC officials sit during the daily news conference, allowing them to take off their masks, prompting Chen to joke that he has not shown his face in public for a long time.
The dividers were placed to demonstrate to the public how effective disease prevention measures can be implemented indoors when social distancing is difficult to maintain, he said.
As yesterday was International Nurses’ Day, Chen, speaking on behalf of the CECC, thanked all nurses who have worked hard and long hours to keep Taiwan safe.
The ministry has launched a Web site to gather letters of support for nurses and had received more than 17,000 letters from more than 50 countries as of yesterday, Ministry of Health and Welfare Department of Nursing and Healthcare Director-General Tsai Shu-feng (蔡淑鳳) said.
More than 559,000 people have donated their share of masks for a total of more than 4.39 million masks to help medical practitioners in other countries who are fighting COVID-19, showing that “Taiwan can help,” Tsai said.
Asked about a hypochlorous acid solution produced by the Want Want Group (旺旺集團), which was fined for false advertising, Chen said that products that do not have a medical license from the Food and Drug Administration cannot be promoted as anti-bacterial.
Asked by a Hong Kong media outlet when Taiwan would relax border controls and allow travelers from Hong Kong or Macau to visit the country, Chen said he is optimistic about the disease situation being brought under control in the two territories.
However, the center is considering reopening only economic activities and trade with Hong Kong first, while other exchanges would have to wait a little longer, he said.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS