The navy ordered one of its warships to return to base and everyone on board tested for COVID-19, after several crew members tested positive in rapid antigen tests, it said yesterday.
The navy did not say how many people were on board the Knox-class frigate, which returned to Kaohsiung yesterday, nor how many had tested positive for COVID-19, saying only that everyone aboard the ROCS Fong Yang had been ordered to take rapid tests.
Those who tested positive have been ordered to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, Navy Command said in a statement.
The navy’s warship deployment had been adjusted to ensure that the absence of the frigate, which has a maximum capacity of 250 crew members, would not affect the navy’s overall combat readiness, it said.
The navy issued the statement after the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that the warship had docked at a base in Kaohsiung early yesterday and everyone aboard had disembarked for further COVID-19 testing.
Pan Chao-ying (潘炤穎), a senior technical specialist at the Kaohsiung Department of Health, told a news conference yesterday that since the Fong Yang docked, 97 crew members had taken COVID-19 PCR tests at a military hospital.
Those who test positive will be quarantined, he added.
Earlier this month, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said that more than 1,000 military personnel had tested positive for COVID-19, and fewer than 100 of them had been hospitalized.
Most of those who were infected had mild or no symptoms and were in home quarantine, Chiu said at the time.
There are about 180,000 service members in the armed forces.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit