Passengers on Taipei’s MRT metropolitan railway system are required to wear masks for the duration of their trip with immediate effect, regardless of whether they can maintain social distancing, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday.
Anyone who fails to comply to the rule — which was reinstated after several foreign nationals tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to their home countries from Taiwan — would be denied service and fined of up to NT$15,000, it said.
Three foreign nationals, two from Japan and one from Thailand, were diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning from Taiwan in June, last month and this month, officials have said.
Contact tracing for two of those cases, involving a Japanese student and a Thai worker, has been completed, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said on Wednesday.
There was no risk of community spread from those three cases, the center said.
However, the case of a Japanese engineer, who tested positive on Sunday after returning to Japan, is still being investigated, as is the case of a Belgian man who tested positive last week in Taiwan, the CECC said.
The CECC reiterated that people should wear masks in enclosed spaces, including medical care centers, schools, religious centers, markets, performance and entertainment centers, on public transportation, and in areas with large crowds.
The center said that many people had stopped wearing masks in most spaces once the nation’s disease situation had eased.
Compulsory mask wearing on Taipei’s MRT was relaxed on June 7, after no new domestically transmitted cases had been reported since April 12, according to CECC data.
Since then, passengers have not been required to wear masks on the MRT if they could maintain social distancing of at least 1.5m to other passengers.
However, wearing masks for the duration of their trips has remained obligatory for passengers who have a fever or respiratory symptoms.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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