The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 28 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and four deaths, and said that the central and local governments must shoulder responsibility for their disease prevention decisions.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the most local cases were reported in New Taipei City, with 12, followed by Taipei with 11, Taoyuan with two, and Taichung, as well as Changhua and Hsinchu counties, with one each.
Ten of the local cases tested positive during isolation or upon ending quarantine, he said, adding that the infection sources of 15 cases had been identified, while nine remained unclear and four were under investigation.
Photo: CNA
The four deaths were two men and two women with underlying health conditions who died between Wednesday and Friday, CECC data showed.
Meanwhile, some local government officials have questioned the center’s decision on Thursday to extend the level 3 COVID-19 alert to July 26, while allowing some restrictions to be conditionally eased.
For example, starting tomorrow, the center is to allow dine-in services to resume for individual customers at restaurants that use panels or other measures for social distancing, space tables 1.5m apart and cap eating times at one hour, but all cities and counties, except for Penghu County, have announced that they would keep the dining-in ban until July 26.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Saturday said that “the central government announced the order, but does not care about the implementation, leaving it for each city or county to decide on their own.”
“I think that is being very irresponsible,” Ko added.
The central government should explain the standards of each alert level and set clear policies so that local governments implement the same standards, or the confusion and debate over inconsistent policies would cause harm, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said.
The central government sets national standards, but local governments can modify them according to local needs, Chen said, adding that while the CECC announced that dine-in services could resume under certain conditions, local governments could make appropriate adjustments.
“Most of the local governments have been very careful in making decisions — discussing issues with local groups and considering the economic and disease prevention outcomes — and we respect their decisions,” he said.
“The central government provided a framework, and the local governments can set the details,” he said. “The central and local governments must shoulder the responsibility together, and everyone has to be responsible for carrying out their own decisions.”
Meanwhile, as daily case counts have remained between 20 and 30 over the past few days, the CECC was asked whether it would consider setting an epidemic threshold for COVID-19.
“Clearing the cases and returning to zero is not impossible,” Chen said.
However, people should remain very cautious and not pin their hopes on “returning to zero,” as there could still be asymptomatic carriers, he added.
The center would refer to the experience and policies of other countries before discussing the standards to set when easing restrictions in Taiwan, he said.
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