The COVID-19 situation in Taiwan is far from necessitating a lockdown, but advance preparation and drills are necessary, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), first made the remarks at a morning news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei and repeated them at the CECC’s daily news briefing in the afternoon.
A cluster of 28 cases have been found in the crew members of the navy supply ship Panshih (磐石) over the past five days, and more than 90 locations in 10 cities and counties visited by the infected crew from Wednesday to Saturday last week were published, causing public concern over community spread.
Chen yesterday said the cluster was an emergency situation and everyone should stay vigilant, but no domestic cases have been reported in Taiwan for 10 consecutive days.
“Considering the global and domestic disease situations, as well as the control over emergency situations, it is not the time to implement a lockdown in Taiwan,” he said. “Everyone should be cautious, but we are far from implementing a lockdown.”
His remark came in response to a media inquiry about Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) on Tuesday saying that if the cluster were to spread to local communities, he would consider canceling the Workers’ Day long weekend next week or even ordering a lockdown if the situation got worse.
Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) also said that if the disease situation became unstable in Taiwan, she would not rule out the possibility of cooperating with the CECC on ordering a lockdown in the county.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said ordering a lockdown in Taipei would be difficult, as it would involve central government buildings in the city, but the city government plans to hold a tabletop exercise to simulate its response to a lockdown next week.
At the CECC in the afternoon, Chen said some local governments have concerns and they intend to protect their residents, but added that he thinks the decision should be made based on scientific evidence.
“While Taiwan has not reported a domestic case for 10 consecutive days, it is more important to discuss how enhancing disease prevention targeted at those who have had direct contact with confirmed cases,” he said. “It is a little too early to be discussing a lockdown.”
However, Chen said that advance preparation for different stages of disease outbreak is necessary, and that the CECC would provide guidelines to local governments on how to prepare for the three stages — the transition/persuasion period, the alert period and the control period — adding that they can discuss any problems with the center.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Academics have expressed mixed views on President William Lai’s (賴清德) nomination of High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) as a Constitutional Court justice and the head of the nation’s top judicial body. While prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including Judy Ju (朱富美), an incumbent, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, would be unprecedented. Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂) said that Tsai’s nomination was an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the legislature, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
RSS