Although the COVID-19 pandemic is at a “controllable” level in Taiwan, the government is considering compulsory tests for all travelers returning from certain high-risk areas, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) told lawmakers yesterday.
At a hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) asked Hsueh why the government has not taken advantage of a lull in new cases to begin large-scale testing for the novel coronavirus.
Universal testing, which is like “fishing with a net,” is usually only necessary when a virus is spreading uncontrollably through communities, Hsueh said.
It also causes people to let their guard down, which, in cases where tests return “false negative” results, can create the risk of community transmission, Hsueh said.
However, the government is discussing mandatory COVID-19 testing for travelers returning from certain high-risk nations, Hsueh said, without giving further details about which countries it would apply or when it might begin.
Based on Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics, Taiwan likely does not have the capacity to carry out a large-scale testing program at this time.
The nation has 34 facilities that can process COVID-19 tests — 16 in the north, 10 in the south, seven in central Taiwan and one in the east — with a capacity of 3,800 tests per day, the data showed.
However, testing all arriving travelers might be easier than universal testing, given the huge reduction in air traffic in the past few weeks.
Data from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport showed that only 820 civilian travelers were expected to arrive yesterday.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS