The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines yesterday suspended consular services until further notice after a receptionist who works in same building was confirmed to have COVID-19.
TECO, the de facto Taiwanese embassy in the Philippines, made the announcement in an advisory posted on its Web site on Wednesday.
TECO was to honor appointments scheduled for yesterday and today, the advisory said.
A receptionist at the RCBC Plaza Tower 1 in Metro Manila, which houses the office, was on Monday confirmed as infected with the novel coronavirus, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
As TECO has two receptionists at a shared counter on the tower’s ground floor, the office has instructed them, along with local staff in the visa section who have regular contact with them, to isolate at home for 14 days beginning yesterday, Ou said.
“At the moment, no TECO personnel or Taiwanese official assigned to the office have been diagnosed with COVID-19. They remain healthy,” she said.
As of 4pm yesterday, the Philippines had reported 38,805 cases of COVID-19, with 1,274 deaths, while 10,673 people have recovered, Philippine Department of Health data showed.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that a Taiwan embassy employee in Honduras who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in May has recovered.
“The embassy staffer twice tested negative for the virus on June 22 and 25. The individual was then assigned to an embassy team that works from home,” Ou said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
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