The number of spectators allowed at CPBL baseball games is to be raised to 2,000 from today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the seventh consecutive day.
While fans would not be able to bring their own snacks into stadiums, the center is allowing league-prepared lunchboxes, which would also contain disinfectant products, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center, said at the daily CECC media briefing in Taipei.
In a world first, the league on Friday last week opened stadiums to a maximum of 1,000 spectators per game under approval from the CECC.
Photo: Chen Chi-chu, Taipei Times
Fans are assigned staggered seats, required to wear masks and prohibited from eating, although water is allowed. Their temperatures are taken and their hands sprayed with disinfectant before they can enter the stadiums.
The CPBL was also the first professional baseball league in the world to start its new season, opening on April 12.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen reportedly suggested that the league change its name by dropping the “Chinese” in Chinese Professional Baseball League and using “Taiwan,” so that foreigners would not mistake it as a China-based entity.
Photo: Chiu Chih-ju, Taipei Times
The AIT respects that the league’s name has been used for 31 years, but suggested that it increase the use of “Taiwan” in its English-language promotional materials, the league said in a statement on Saturday last week.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 440 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — 349 imported infections, 55 local and 36 from the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla” — while its death toll from COVID-19 stood at seven, center data showed.
Among people with confirmed cases, 383 have been released from isolation, up from 375 on Wednesday, the center said.
No new cases were reported by the center yesterday, for a seventh straight day. It has been 32 days since the last confirmed local case.
Regarding long-distance fishing vessels expected to return to Taiwan late this month, the center had initially planned to allow crew members to disembark and forgo the 14-day isolation period if they had not had contact with a foreign port over the past 30 days.
However, after a meeting with the Fisheries Agency and some local governments a week or two ago, experts felt that the health of crew members could not be ensured, so a 14-day isolation period would still be required, Chen said.
Later yesterday, the center and the Fisheries Agency were scheduled to meet to discuss financial concerns expressed by fishing companies, he said.
The center is preparing a report on Taiwan’s experiences in fighting COVID-19, to be shared with the world, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The report is to include information on the center’s decisionmaking process, communications with the public, testing strategies and case investigations, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS