Crowd control measures and warning mechanisms are to be implemented at national scenic areas and amusement parks during the Lunar New Year holiday to ensure public safety, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it also reported two imported cases of COVID-19.
From Wednesday next week to Feb. 16, visitor numbers would be restricted at 13 national scenic areas and 25 amusement parks across the nation, Tourism Bureau official Chuang Ching-cheng (莊靜真) said.
A warning mechanism would inform people that a scenic area or theme park is nearing its peak visitor capacity and advise people to visit other places to avoid overcrowding, she said.
Photo: CNA
Multiple crowd control measures would be implemented at 46 enclosed and open spaces in national scenic areas, when the number of visitors reaches 50 percent of the capacity of an enclosed space, or the visitor capacity of an open venue, she said.
The safe visitor capacity for amusement parks is calculated based on the park’s size while maintaining a safe social distance of 1.5m, so the estimated visitor capacity would be about 50 percent of its original maximum capacity, the bureau said.
Crowd management measures include assigning more personnel on site to guide visitor flow, and reminding people to wear a mask and practice social distancing, as well as sending mobile phone text messages or posting information on official Web sites or electronic displays to tell people to temporarily avoid the areas, she said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that as of yesterday, a total of 4,288 people associated with the COVID-19 cluster infection at Taoyaun General Hospital were in isolation, while 479 people had been released from isolation.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is the deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that the hospital’s “final clearance” project — including disinfection and wide-scale testing of employees and contract workers — began yesterday.
The project includes arranging for a final polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for 2,136 people, 926 of whom took the test yesterday, he said, adding that 706 people would also receive a serological antibody test.
The process went smoothly yesterday morning at the hospital, as employees kept a proper social distance, and did not chat, drink or eat while waiting to be tested, Lo said.
The specimens are to be sent to the laboratories of four medical centers for examination, he added.
Taoyuan General Hospital is an intermediate emergency responsibility hospital, so resuming operation is important to the region, but the project is necessary for people and employees to feel safe, Chen said.
Even if all test results came back negative, the hospital might still need some time to train and adapt to the readjusted segregation of wards, routes and work assignments, so it might not resume full operation until some time after the Lunar New Year holiday, he said.
The CECC also reported two imported cases of COVID-19 — two Indonesian fishermen, both in their 20s, who arrived on the same airplane from Indonesia on Jan. 16.
They were confirmed to be positive after PCR tests taken at the end of their quarantine, it said.
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