People can get COVID-19 rapid screening results via the National Health Insurance Express App, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it stressed the importance of not taking public transportation and staying away from public places within three days after being tested.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, made the remarks at the CECC’s daily briefing.
The CECC and the National Health Insurance Administration have updated the app to allow people to access their COVID-19 rapid screening results, which should help make the process less stressful, he said, adding that those with a positive result will also be informed by phone as before.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said people should refrain from using public transportation, wear a mask indoors and avoid public places within three days after being tested.
The instructions are typically given to people by the hospital that performs the screening, Chuang said in response to reports that a Keelung resident, who later tested positive for COVID-19, had taken a train to Hualien two days after being screened, but before receiving the result.
Chuang said that the Keelung resident was tested on Tuesday, meaning they should not have used public transportation until yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Railways Administration is to contact people who were in the two cars that the Keelung resident had entered and ask them to practice self-health management, he said.
Meanwhile, under the national level 3 COVID-19 alert issued on Wednesday, people are required to wear a mask at all times outside their homes or face a fine of NT$3,000 to NT$15,000.
However, questions have been raised about how the rules should be enforced, particularly over activities such as driving and eating.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the CECC, said that masks are required when two or more people are in a vehicle.
The CECC and local governments agreed that a driver alone in an enclosed vehicle does not need to wear a mask, as they pose little risk of transmission, but masks are required as soon as a second person is aboard, Chen Tsung-yen said.
Workers on construction sites may eat or drink unmasked in a socially distanced area onsite, which employers must provide, he said.
While people are allowed to lower their mask to drink, the CECC has banned smoking in public areas during the level 3 alert.
Repeated breaches of masking rules — including using a drink as an excuse to not be masked — is punishable by a fine, the CECC said.
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi, Yang Mien-chieh and CNA
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
RSS