A non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps migrant workers on Saturday distributed more than 1,000 medical-grade masks to migrant fishers in Yilan County.
Members of the Migrant Workers’ Concern Desk from Saint Christopher’s Church in Taipei distributed the masks, along with about 200 donated jackets and sweaters to hundreds of migrant fishers.
Father Gioan Tran Van Thiet, the church’s assistant parish priest, who visits migrant fishers in Yilan weekly, said the masks were donated by Philippine migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.
He said that fishers who live and sleep in cramped conditions on fishing boats can be vulnerable to infections.
Nguyen Van Va, who is from Vietnam’s Nghe An Province, said he really appreciated the masks and was unaware that Taiwan had implemented mask rationing.
“My employer did not tell me anything,” he said. “The last time I purchased masks was last year and this year I have been working long hours and I did not have time to go and buy masks.”
Demand for masks has surged amid fears over the spread of COVID-19, and shortages have forced the government to ration purchases to two per person per week at pharmacies contracted by the National Health Insurance system.
Marites Lopez Hingpis, a caregiver in the county’s Nanfangao (南方澳) port, said she frequently needs to accompany her patient to hospital, but her employer does not provide masks.
The measures announced by the Ministry of Labor on Jan. 30 to help combat the spread of the virus require employers to provide masks to employees if the employees’ jobs involve them visiting hospitals.
There are more than 2,000 migrant fishers in the Yilan area, the Yilan Migrant Fishermen Union said.
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
Taiwanese who have recently traveled to China for tourism, to visit friends or relatives or for business reasons have been interrogated, detained and faced other forms of unreasonable treatment from Chinese officials, a source said on Sunday. Among them was a Taiwanese who was detained for eight hours at an airport in China due to their research, which is related to religion, while others have had their travel documents for China canceled for a number of reasons, the source said. In July, China expanded the scope of its counterespionage law, and recently announced a draft amendment to the law on the protection
RSS