A person is tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection yesterday at a special drive-through rapid testing station at the Kaohsiung Lide Baseball Stadium. Lee estimated that Taiwan would go through “a painful period” over the next four to five months, before large-scale community transmission rates give way to lower levels of infection. On Wednesday, Lee explained at the CECC news briefing how he assessed risks posed by pediatric COVID-19 cases, as well as the issue of vaccination. Based on the US data, Taiwan could see the number of pediatric COVID-19 deaths rise to double digits as the overall number of cases continues to climb, he said. At the time, the number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan was relatively low, and the government had yet to authorize any COVID-19 vaccines for children in that age group, Lee said.

Sri Lankan leaders’ time is up: political soothsayerMYSTIC POLITICS: Former Sri Lankan president Premadasa used a magical ritual to ward off his impeachment in 1991, but it did not protect him from assassination two years laterAFP, COLOMBOGenerations of Sri Lankan leaders have sought guidance from seers and astrologers, and now one has dared tell the ruling Rajapaksa family that their time in office is up. Images of soothsayers standing alongside top administration figures have been shared on social media by protesters calling on them to urge Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stand down. A family carrying placards and a Sri Lankan flag walk along a road to a protest outside the entrance of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office in Colombo yesterday. Astrologer Dayasena Athukorale holds up an ola leaf horoscope of an unidentified customer at his home in Makola, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday. The Rajapaksa brothers are only the latest in a long tradition of Sri Lankan leaders balancing otherworldly advice with that of technocrats and civil servants.

COVID-19: Rapid test kit requisitioning has startedDOMESTIC CASE RECORD: The government is to introduce a rationing system that would allow people to buy kits at a cheaper rate by registering with their health cardBy Lee Hsin-fang and Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAThe government has begun to requisition COVID-19 rapid test kits, with an aim to distribute 40 million kits each month to meet public demand, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. Rapid test kits for COVID-19 are pictured in an undated photograph. Rapid test kits are available at stores, and those for people in isolation or quarantine, or in high-risk communities would be provided by the government, Chen said. Taiwan yesterday reported 874 new domestic COVID-19 cases, breaking its daily record for the second consecutive day, CECC data showed. Pingtung County reported five cases, Taitung County had four, and Nantou, Changhua and Miaoli counties each recorded three.

Ten cable operators retract Channel 52 petitions for TTVIMAGE COUNTS: A source said TTV management had been tipped off that the applications would not be passed and wanted to avoid embarrassmentBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterTen cable service operators have withdrawn their applications to have Taiwan Television (TTV) broadcast on Channel 52, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday. Channel 52 became a much-coveted spot on the nation’s cable system after the commission in 2020 rejected CTi News’ license renewal application. Taiwan Fixed Network Media Co originally applied to have TTV broadcast on Channel 52, but changed its application. The 10 cable service operators that withdrew their applications are all affiliated with Taiwanese media tycoon Lien Tai-sheng (練台生). “We have noticed, however, that some cable service operators have placed some of the news channels after channel 80,” it said.

US inflation last month hit 8.5 percent, while Taiwan’s rose 3.27 percent, rendering drastic rate hikes unwarranted, he said. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday. In addition, the central bank will seek to support the nation’s economy to meet its duty, he said. Consumer prices in Taiwan are likely to ease next quarter, although the landscape is teeming with uncertainties, Yang said. The central bank would favor selective credit controls to prevent funds from overflowing to the property market, he said.

Veteran Hong Kong journalist arrested for ‘sedition’AFP, HONG KONGA veteran Hong Kong journalist was yesterday arrested by national security police for allegedly conspiring to publish “seditious materials,” police said. The arrest is the latest blow to the media in Hong Kong, which has seen its freedom rating plummet as Beijing cracks down on dissent. Allan Au (區家麟), a 54-year-old reporter and journalism lecturer, was arrested in a dawn raid by the Hong Kong National Security Police unit, multiple local media outlets reported. One of the territory’s most experienced local columnists, he was a Knight fellow at Stanford University in 2005 and earned a doctorate from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Au in 2017 published a book about censorship in Hong Kong titled Freedom Under 20 Shades of Shadow.

Sales in the computer and information technology (IT) services industry reached a record high of NT$453.4 billion (US$15.7 billion) last year amid a boom in people working from home and remote education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said last week. Industry revenue last year rose 12.4 percent from a year earlier, Department of Statistics data showed. The growth was its highest since 2008, the data showed. Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times With growing demand for emerging technologies such as 5G applications, high-performance computing and Internet of Things devices, and cloud technology-based data processing services, many...

Notes from Central Taiwan: Should Taiwan greenlight red light districts? RED LIGHT DISTRICTS OF THE PASTIt is regrettable that this opportunity to test the idea has been ignored. Yet, red light districts have a long history in Taiwan, which may offer illumination. An interesting paper by Sammonji Masaya observes that after Taiwan became Japanese, numerous Japanese sex workers made the journey to Taiwan. Males could solicit sex workers without fear of the law, because only the sex workers were breaking the law.

Taiwan has reported more than 100 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases every day over the past 10 days, causing demand for rapid test kits to soar. Lawmakers have demanded that the government form a “national rapid testing team” to provide free at-home kits, modeled after the mask rationing scheme implemented early in the COVID-19 pandemic. People collect COVID-19 rapid test kits given out for free by the Keelung City Government on Saturday. For example, the UK offered free tests by mail during its lockdown, she said, adding that tests are now available for ￡2 (US$2.60) each. Chen Shih-chung, who heads the CECC, last week said the government “would not rule out” requisitioning test kits to bring costs down.

“Who does that dog belong to? Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je answers reporters’ questions before attending an event in Taipei on Saturday. Ko said the TPP was committed to creating a fresh political culture, but their lack of experience had led to some improper behavior. In response to media queries yesterday, Lai said that Ko twice called to apologize earlier in the day and promised to reflect on the incident. She said she hopes that party members can let go of personal grudges, respect its system and treat each other equally.

Photo: AFPThe dangers of this speculative ecosystem, and the largely unregulated crypto gaming industry, were brought into sudden focus last week when Axie Infinity was hit by a US$615 million heist. “The trade-offs we made maybe weren’t the ideal ones.”The hack, one of the biggest crypto heists ever, shone a light on play-to-earn games, a young world largely unknown outside crypto and gaming circles, that is becoming big business. Although demand has cooled since peaking in November last year, gaming NFTs have still racked up US$484 million in sales so far this year. Thitadilaka said that his guild, GuildFi, grew into a network with 3,000 Axie Infinity players who split their earnings with the asset owners 50-50. Teriz Pia, who is 25 and lives in Manila, quit her job as a preschool teacher in June last year after her brother founded a play-to-earn gaming guild, Real Deal Guild.

Are you anxious, introverted or just a ‘highly sensitive person?’Kanye West and Lorde say they are HSPs. Those who are not highly sensitive are often compared to dandelions because their welfare is generally less dependent on external support. In the realm of whether a person is highly sensitive (orchid) and not (dandelion), tulips fall somewhere in the middle. Photo: EPA-EFEHYSTERIAThe idea of a highly sensitive person may seem to recall 19th-century diagnoses of neurasthenia and hysteria, when “rest cures” were frequently prescribed for the overstimulated. Highly sensitive people have often been compared to orchids because they can only thrive when they have been nurtured.

Local authorities across China are stepping up virus control measures, including movement restrictions, mass testing and new quarantine centers. Photo: AFPCities that jumped into action this week included Henan Province’s Zhengzhou, which on Thursday said it would test all 12.6 million residents after finding a few asymptomatic cases in the previous few days. The cities collectively are home to an estimated 193 million people and contribute 22 percent of China’s GDP. Stories of crowded and unsanitary central quarantine centers and fears of family separation have driven calls for home quarantine in Shanghai and for China to review its “dynamic clearance” approach. “As long as these measures are implemented well, our country’s severe coronavirus epidemic situation will soon improve,” Wu said.

DBS forecasts slower GDP growth in Taiwan next yearBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterDBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) expects Taiwan’s economy to grow at a slower pace next year, as the nation’s semiconductor sector is likely to face a correction and rate hikes are likely to have a greater impact on the local economy, Singapore-based DBS economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) told a videoconference yesterday. The bank forecasts GDP growth of 3 percent for Taiwan next year, lower than a 3.8 percent expansion expected this year, Ma said, citing a slower pace of growth in private consumption, investment and exports. DBS Bank Ltd economist Ma Tieying speaks during a videoconference in Singapore on Oct. 5 last year. DBS raised its forecast for inflation in Taiwan for this year from 1.3 percent to 2.3 percent, given higher oil prices and persistent inflation overseas, which has resulted in imported inflation, Ma said. DBS expects the central bank to continue raising rates unless Taiwan faces a considerable downside risk.

Teens unaware Taiwan relies on energy importsBy Rachel Lin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerNearly 90 percent of Taiwanese teenagers do not know the nation relies on foreign energy imports, a poll released yesterday showed. The King Car Culture and Education Foundation poll found that 87.1 percent of elementary and high-school students are unaware that a “large share” of the country’s energy is imported from abroad, the foundation told a virtual news conference. Sixty-five percent of teenagers said they learned about energy conservation and carbon emissions from school, 51.8 percent from textbooks and 50.9 percent from television news programs, the survey showed. Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳), principal of Ankeng Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), said the campaign at her school involved telling students to replace older light bulbs with energy-saving LED lights and turning off appliances. The school is planning to install rooftop solar panels to increase its use of renewable energy sources, she added.