A city-wide lockdown is a measure of last resort, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, adding that the cluster of COVID-19 infections at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital has not reached that level.
With 10 cases reported from among the hospital’s workers and their relatives, some people, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members, are asking whether the center should consider locking down Taoyuan to prevent further spread of the virus.
The CECC yesterday reported two more cases imported from the Philippines and one from Denmark, but no more from the hospital.
The hospital cluster has prompted authorities to place 564 people in isolation.
Clarifying the steps that would be taken before a possible lockdown, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news briefing in Taipei that it is difficult to say when the cluster case could be closed.
The cluster infection at the hospital falls under the center’s first alert level, which is having isolated cases of cluster infection due to imported cases, he said.
Photo: Chen En-hui, Taipei Times
The second alert level is when locally transmitted cases appear that have unknown sources of infection, while the third alert level is when there are three cluster infections within one week, or 10 local cases within one day with unknown origins of infection.
The fourth alert level is when there are 100 confirmed cases per day for two consecutive weeks, with more than half of those infected having unknown sources of infection.
In the fourth level, people should not leave their residences unless absolutely necessary and must observe social distancing, Chen said, adding that people should wear masks and observe social distancing indoors.
All gatherings would be suspended, and all work and classes suspended, unless they are occupations related to everyday life, maintaining law and order, healthcare and medical services, and civil services, Chen said.
Counties, townships and districts with severe pandemic infection rates would be locked down with restricted exit and entry, Chen said, adding that residents would need to stay at home.
However, the nation is only at the first alert level, and people only need to wear masks on public transportation and in crowded areas, Chen said.
An analysis of five patients in the hospital cluster infection found that they carry the L452R and D614G mutations, the center said.
The WHO has not yet designated the L452R strain, discovered in California, as a new variant.
However, only further research would tell whether L452R has a faster infection rate, said Shih Shin-ru (施信如), director of Chang Gung University’s Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
ALL QUIET: The Philippine foreign secretary told senators she would not respond to questions about whether Lin Chia-lung was in the country The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group, as Philippine lawmakers raised questions over Lin’s reported visit. The group is being led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) chairman Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) vice president Lotta Danielsson, the ministry said in a statement. However, sources speaking on condition of anonymity said that Lin is leading the delegation of 70 people. Filinvest New Clark City Innovation Park
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
RSS