The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new imported case of COVID-19.
Case No. 570 is a Taiwanese woman in her 20s who on Monday returned from the Czech Republic, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman.
She had traveled to the Czech Republic in the middle of September to study, he said.
The woman has a history of allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever, and on Oct. 10, developed a fever and abnormal sense of taste, he said.
She did not seek medical attention at the time, he said, adding that her symptoms improved after about 10 days.
Upon arriving in Taiwan, she had a runny nose and phlegm, he said.
She thought those symptoms were related to allergic rhinitis, and because her symptoms in the Czech Republic happened more than 14 days before, she did not report any symptoms upon entry, he said.
The following day, while staying at a quarantine hotel, she told authorities that she had had a fever and abnormal sense of taste while in the Czech Republic, he said.
Subsequently, health authorities arranged for her to be tested for COVID-19, he said.
The woman took a flight operated by a foreign airline, Chuang said, adding that contract tracing is still in progress.
Among the nation’s confirmed cases, 39 remained hospitalized as of yesterday, data from the CECC showed.
In related news, the Council of Agriculture said that it would offer a subsidy of up to NT$15,000 per migrant worker in the agricultural industry to help cover the costs of quarantine hotels.
If an employer hires a foreign agricultural worker, and during their stay at a quarantine hotel, they follow disease-prevention regulations, the council would subsidize 50 percent of the accommodation costs, with a maximum subsidy of NT$15,000 per worker, the council said.
Chen Chun-yen (陳俊言), head of the council’s Department of Farmers’ Service, said that the subsidy program is limited to foreigners who received a quarantine notice from health authorities, and stayed at a legally registered quarantine hotel after entry.
The maximum subsidy amount was based on council investigations that showed that staying at a quarantine hotel would add more than NT$20,000 to each worker’s expenses.
Employers can submit applications for the subsidy, along with relevant documents, within three months from the day after the end of the foreign worker’s quarantine, the council said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the number of foreign workers entering the nation to work in the agricultural industry, Chen said, adding that so far, only about 100 such workers have arrived in Taiwan.
The council set up the subsidy after farmers raised the issue during discussions, Chen said.
It hopes the program would help to solve the needs of farmers, and speed up the arrival of migrant workers to assist with domestic agricultural work, he said.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported