Tainan is the only city that will conditionally allow dining at restaurants, while other local governments yesterday said that dine-in restrictions would remain in place, despite a relaxation of a nationwide ban announced by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday.
Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Keelung, Hsinchu City, and Yilan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties are not to repeal dine-in bans.
Starting on Tuesday, some measures imposed through a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert would be eased, including dine-in restrictions at restaurants, the CECC said, as it extended the alert until at least July 26.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
However, local governments would be allowed to keep measures in place if needed, the center added.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said it would continue to allow only takeouts at restaurants as long as the city is under the level 3 alert.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that all regulation rollbacks must be accompanied by tangible measures and policies.
Photo: CNA
The city’s disease prevention measures also aim to protect the economy and society, Ko said, adding that lifting the ban on dining at restaurants and mask mandates are at the bottom of his priority list.
School and campus exercising grounds, Taipei Zoo, the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park and the Taipei Astronomical Museum would remain closed, he said.
Public libraries, while remaining closed, would adopt measures to allow people to borrow and return books, for example through cooperation with convenience stores that can serve as drop-off locations for borrowed books, he said.
Movie theaters would be allowed to operate at reduced capacity and implement social distancing, he said, adding that moviegoers would have to wear masks at all times, and eating or drinking would not be allowed.
Kindergartens are allowed to resume operations only if all employees have been vaccinated, he said, adding that daycare facilities for people with special needs would operate at reduced capacity.
Separately, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday said that the city would also keep its dine-in ban in place, citing a prevalent high risk of infection in the city, as well as a lack of nationwide standards and insufficient COVID-19 vaccine coverage.
The Tainan City Government said that it would from Tuesday allow dining at restaurants, making Tainan the only one among the six special municipalities to lift the ban.
Additional reporting by Wang Jung-hsiang and Chou Min-hung
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