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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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