The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced five crowd control measures for traditional and night markets as it reported 335 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, eight backlogged cases and 36 deaths.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the 335 new local cases are 189 males and 146 females, adding that they developed symptoms from May 24 to Saturday.
The eight backlogged cases are three men and five women aged 20 to 70, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
They began experiencing symptoms on Tuesday and Wednesday, he said.
As most of the pending cases due to delayed test results or reporting have been cleared, the center would no longer report backlogged cases, he added.
Of the 343 local infections reported yesterday, 160 live in New Taipei City, followed by Miaoli County with 75, Taipei with 64 and Taoyuan with 16, he said, adding that the high case count in Miaoli is mainly due to cluster infections at electronics companies there.
Yilan County reported nine cases; Kaohsiung, as well as Hsinchu, Changhua and Yunlin counties, reported three new cases each; Keelung, Taichung and Tainan reported two cases each; and Chiayi City reported one new case.
The dead are 22 men and 14 women, aged 50 to 100, Chen said.
They began experiencing symptoms from May 7 to Tuesday and died from May 27 to Wednesday, he said.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) said his ministry has been negotiating with local governments on how to tighten crowd controls at traditional or night markets, adding that they agreed on five measures.
“The first would be expanding crowd controls to include roadside vendors around the markets,” he said, adding that business hours and traffic control sections would be clearly designated inside and near the markets.
“We also encourage people to change their shopping habits, prepare a shopping list before heading to the market and finish shopping in less than an hour,” Lin said. “Do not stay too long and do not form a crowd.”
Entrances and exits would be controlled, and shoppers would be required to provide contact information at entry and exit points, he said, adding that on-site measures would be taken to limit the number of shoppers and ensure social distancing.
Local district or township offices should dispatch more personnel to help implement the measures and conduct inspections at the markets, while local governments would ask police officers to fine illegal street vendors, Lin said.
Chen said that about 70,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine would be distributed to local governments after examinations are completed this week, adding that they would be offered to high-risk healthcare professionals in the first priority group, of which about 30 percent, or about 70,000 people, have not received a vaccine shot.
A batch of 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by Japan, which is undergoing examination, would first be offered to frontline workers in the first to third priority groups who are at risk of being directly exposed to the virus, he said.
Priority would next be given to people aged 75 or above and people on dialysis, followed by essential personnel at critical facilities, and in critical industries and national defense, Chen said.
The examination is expected to be completed by Friday and the shots might be ready to be administered on Wednesday next week, he said.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
RSS