A nationwide COVID-19 alert is to be lowered from level 3 to 2 on Tuesday, but strict border controls would remain, the government said yesterday.
The level 3 alert in place since May 19 is to end on Monday, with a level 2 alert in place from Tuesday until Aug. 9, the Executive Yuan said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told a news conference in Taipei that over the next two weeks, people should still wear masks at all times outdoors, except while eating or drinking, and practice social distancing.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
The maximum number of people allowed for indoor gatherings would increase from four to 50, while the maximum for outdoor gatherings would increase from nine to 100, Chen said, adding that tour groups could contain up to 50 people.
Funerals and wedding banquets can be held with the same crowd limits, but newlyweds at banquets should not make tableside toasts, he said.
Businesses and public spaces must still record visitors’ contact information, while enforcing social distancing of 1.5m indoors and 1m outdoors, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Places that can reopen if they have proper disease prevention measures in place include kindergartens, cram schools, bowling alleys, infant care centers, dementia care facilities, certain fishing ports and religious sites, he said.
Art and science museums must have visitors register before arriving and cannot allow groups of more than 49 people, Chen said.
Artists and crew at performance halls can remove their masks while performing, as long as they submit a negative virus test result obtained three to seven days before the performance, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Audience members must be seated at least 3m from the stage, while individual spectators should be properly separated, he added.
A ban on visits to patients at hospitals remains in effect, but the CECC would today announce whether it would allow visits to patients or residents at long-term care facilities, he said.
Places that remain closed under the level 2 alert include community colleges, swimming pools and leisure businesses, such as dance halls, nightclubs, KTVs, gaming halls and mahjong parlors, he said.
Asked if companies should still ask employees to work from home, Chen said it is not mandatory, but expressed the hope that the practice would be maintained.
While the CECC on Monday last week allowed restaurants to offer dine-in services, most local governments did not follow suit.
Asked about dine-in restrictions, Chen said that the CECC’s guidelines are only for reference.
The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would maintain a ban on dine-in services, only allowing restaurants to provide takeout services.
Chen said that the CECC would still maintain strict border controls.
Although it might adjust measures for foreign visitors who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, such a plan has not yet been finalized, he said.
The new measures are subject to change, Chen said, adding that people should still remain vigilant amid the pandemic.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work