Taipei healthcare workers and disease prevention personnel who have come into close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case can continue working without being placed in isolation as per a new policy, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday while visiting a COVID-19 care center in Zhongshan District (中山), on the day the policy took effect.
Exposed personnel who have received a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can remain at work under a plan that includes continual testing, said Ko, who was released from home isolation at midnight that day.
A rapid test is to be performed each morning before starting work, he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Taipei City Government on Wednesday established 12 COVID-19 care centers throughout the city, providing comprehensive care services for the increasing number of confirmed cases who are isolating at home, and people who are under home quarantine.
“There are about 2,900 people quarantined or isolated at home in Zhongshan District alone,” he said. “If there is a confirmed case at the care center, it might cause workers to be isolated and the center’s operation to be halted. Who will provide care services for more than 2,000 people?”
Included in the policy are health department officials, police officers, firefighters and environmental protection department officials, who are all considered by the city to be disease prevention personnel, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said as she visited a care center in Neihu District (內湖) yesterday morning.
Huang was also released from isolation at midnight.
The policy could be expanded to include public transportation employees, wholesale market workers and school faculties, she said.
The city is to discuss with the central government today whether rapid tests for healthcare workers and other personnel should be conducted daily or every two days, Taipei City Government Deputy Spokeswoman Vivienne Wei (魏文元) said.
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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