Taiwan can be considered to have achieved “COVID zero” status, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday, despite the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reporting 21 imported cases of COVID-19, the highest number of daily imported infections reported this year.
Chen, who heads the CECC, said no local infections or deaths were reported, but 21 imported cases were confirmed yesterday.
The imported cases are eight men and 13 women who arrived from Belize, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and the US, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center.
The highest number of daily imported infections last year was 25 cases on March 23, he said.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that among the 21 imported cases, nine were migrant workers from Indonesia and five Bangladeshi sailors.
The five sailors arrived from Singapore and tested negative upon arrival, as well as upon ending quarantine, but they tested positive in self-paid tests on Monday after completing self-health management, Lo said.
Photo: CNA
However, they had low viral loads and had developed antibodies against COVID-19, while four of them tested negative in a second test yesterday, so they were likely previous infections that pose a low risk to the local community, he said.
As no local infections have been reported for 33 consecutive days, which exceeds two 14-day incubation periods of COVID-19, Taiwan can be considered to have achieved “COVID zero” status, Chen said, adding that this was the result of everyone’s disease prevention efforts.
However, cases are rising in many parts of the world, so Taiwan is expected to report more imported cases this month, he said, urging the public to continue cooperating with the CECC and complying with disease prevention regulations.
Asked to comment on Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling’s (賴香伶) remark yesterday that there are still more than 5 million people who have not received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Chen said there are about 2 million children younger than 12 years old who cannot get vaccinated, while there are about another 2 million currently overseas.
After the CECC on Monday reported that 34,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine were due to expire yesterday, Chen said that about 15,000 doses still needed to be administered yesterday, but with various gifts and gift certificates being offered to encourage people to get vaccinated, the CECC was optimistic that the remaining doses would not go to waste.
Chen and CDC officials yesterday visited a temporary vaccination center at Taipei Railway Station offering the Moderna vaccine to eligible recipients along with a NT$100 gift certificate.
Chen said that 808 doses had been administered at the station on Sunday, followed by 2,001 doses on Monday, and the goal for yesterday was to provide more than 3,500 doses.
With the main hall of the station crowded with people lining up to get vaccinated yesterday afternoon, a large proportion of them migrant workers, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said people who lined up before 8pm would be guaranteed to get a dose.
The CECC also announced that people can get vaccinated at Banciao Railway Station’s visitor center between 4:30pm and 8pm until Friday, and that a gift certificate would also be offered.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
RSS