People are banned from visiting patients in hospitals in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan until Feb. 9, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday, as it reported three imported cases of COVID-19.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that in response to a COVID-19 cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital, the center was tightening access and personnel controls at hospitals in the three cities, effective immediately.
The hospitals would not accept visitors for hospitalized patients and each patient can have only one companion, he said.
Photo: CNA
There are three exceptions to the ban, Chen said.
The first is if a patient is undergoing surgery or an invasive treatment, and needs to be accompanied by a family member, or if the law requires a consent form or document to be signed by a patient’s relative, he said.
The second is if the condition of a patient in an emergency room, intensive care unit or palliative care unit needs to be explained to family members, he said.
The third exception is when a patient’s health condition worsens or they need medical treatment, or when a patient has been hospitalized for a long period and the hospital has approved a need for having visitors, Chen said.
The CECC urged people to wear a mask at all times when visiting hospitals, practice good respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, wash their hands thoroughly and frequently, and cover their nose and mouth with a tissue if they cannot wear a mask due to special conditions.
Chen said that 3,482 people associated with the hospital cluster have been placed under mandatory isolation, including 399 hospital employees, adding that 143 healthcare professionals completed 14 days of isolation yesterday, but they would need to test negative before they are released from the isolation order.
The healthcare professionals would be asked to stay at home after being released, and the hospital would arrange them into two groups to work in rotation to prevent infection, he said.
All hospital employees would be tested and the premises would be disinfected on Thursday next week, Chen said.
As many people have been put under isolation due to the cluster, and they are required to undergo testing upon ending isolation, several temporary testing stations have been set up outside designated hospitals, Chen said.
Asked about an 18-year-old woman in Taoyuan who had been placed under home isolation, but was found dead in her room yesterday morning, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that she had a chronic disease, but added that samples would be taken for COVID-19 testing.
He said that the woman was hospitalized twice from Jan. 5 to Tuesday last week and from Thursday last week to Saturday, and a patient who stayed in the same hospital room as her was also a patient at Taoyuan General Hospital, so she was placed in isolation.
Chen said that three imported cases of COVID-19 were confirmed yesterday, including a Philippine migrant worker and a Burmese man, both in their 30s, who both tested positive in a paid test after completing 14 days of home quarantine.
The third case is a Taiwanese in her 40s who returned from the US on Sunday last week and developed a fever and diarrhea on Monday, he said.
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