The mental health of people in Taiwan is at its best ever, with an overall score of 83.3, likely because of Taiwan’s success in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, a biannual national mental health index survey released yesterday by the Mental Health Foundation showed.
Physician Yang Tsung-tsair (楊聰財), the foundation’s mental health index division convener, said that the telephone survey collected valid responses from 1,082 adults aged 20 and above, on the effects of COVID-19 on their mental health.
The survey’s overall scores in election years were often lower than other years, but the score reached a record 83.3 points this year, despite the presidential and legislative elections being held in January, he said.
“Although the world has been impacted by the pandemic, Taiwan has achieved an impressive disease prevention performance, allowing people to feel safe, especially in comparison to seeing lockdowns and high mortality rates in other countries,” Yang said.
“The high score also shows that people’s mental resilience is increasing,” he added.
However, 21.4 percent of the respondents said that the pandemic has affected their financial situation negatively, which could also influence their mental health, as some might think they did not receive benefits equalling their contributions, Yang said.
While 96.4 percent of the respondents said they are aware that keeping a proper social distance is important, about 22.1 percent also felt that disease prevention measures inconvenienced them, he said.
Moreover, 26.4 percent of the respondents felt “lonely,” Yang said, adding that it implies that there might be 4.22 million lonely people in Taiwan, who might have a higher risk of experiencing depression, a sleeping disorder, chronic anxiety or other problems.
Chairman Hu Hai-kuo (胡海國) said that the foundation urges the government and social workers to show more concern for people who have been financially affected by the pandemic, and encourages people who feel lonely to try to find groups in which they feel a sense of belonging.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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