All train and intercity bus passengers must wear a mask and have their temperature checked either at a station or aboard, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Masks must also be worn at highway rest stops, Lin said.
The Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSR) has installed thermal imaging cameras at the entrances to all its 12 stations, and the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) has installed them at its 239 stations, the THSR and TRA said in separate statements.
Photo: Ho Cheng-hsu, Taipei Times
Temperatures are to be checked when entering any Chunghwa Post Co offices and masks must be worn, the company said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday proposed a relief package for drivers of taxi and tour buses that would allow drivers to apply for a monthly subsidy of NT$10,000 (US$330.50) for up to three months.
The package, intended to provide relief to drivers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, would cost an estimated NT$3.45 billion, the ministry said.
It has the support of the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan, but would not be finalized until a detailed report is made by the Directorate-General of Highways and approved by the Executive Yuan, the ministry said.
Lin has been communicating with the Presidential Office and Executive Yuan to secure the funding, the ministry said.
There are an estimated 16,000 tour bus drivers and 100,000 taxi drivers nationwide who would be eligible for the subsidies, it said.
A separate subsidy package recently implemented by the ministry provides taxi drivers with a NT$2,000 monthly stipend for fuel for up to six months, and a subsidy of up to NT$74,000 for tour bus drivers to cover fuel costs, reduced licensing fees and interest relief for bus loans.
Bus drivers can also apply for up to NT$110,000 to cover driver training courses under that package.
Vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德), a former premier, wrote on Facebook that he has been in touch with Lin in the past few days, and he thought that taxi drivers should have more than a NT$2,000 monthly fuel stipend, because they have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has asked the Executive Yuan to discuss the issue, and it was expected to make an announcement soon, he wrote.
Additional reporting by Ho Yu-hua
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS