Four killed in quarantine hotel blazeLIFESAVING EFFORT: The building in Changhua County burned for nine hours before the 166 deployed firefighters could put out the flames that had trapped 31 peopleBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAFour people on Wednesday were killed in a fire at a COVID-19 quarantine hotel in Changhua County, including a firefighter who died after their oxygen tank ran out while sheltering in a bathroom in the burning facility, the Changhua Fire Bureau said yesterday. The former department store, housing the hotel on the seventh to ninth floors, is considered a local landmark. Emergency response workers stand by with stretchers as firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at Chiaoyu Building in Changhua County on Wednesday. Those were 27 people under mandatory quarantine, two staying at the hotel while monitoring their health, as well as two hotel employees, it added. Tsai said that he had renovated the seventh to ninth floors to run a hotel with 74 rooms, in the past few months housing people under mandatory quarantine.

FSC eases capital requirements for top banks to expand lending capacityBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said it was easing minimum capital requirements for the nation’s six “domestic systemically important banks” (D-SIB), allowing them to expand lending by NT$400 billion this year to help companies affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. “By relaxing the capital requirements, the six D-SIBs are expected to face less capital management pressure and to increase their risk absorption capacities,” Tong said. To meet a higher common equity ratio requirement, a bank could either boost its common equity or reduce its loans. All six banks met the adjusted capital requirements in the first quarter, Tong said. As corporate loans have a comparatively higher risk weighting of 100 percent, the six banks can approve more corporate loans with the more relaxed capital requirements, he said.

Manufacturing PMI slows on outbreakSTILL SOLID: Growth momentum softened across the manufacturing industry as new orders and output increased at the slowest rates since August last year, IHS Markit saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe nation’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month slowed to 57.6 from 62 in May, as companies continued to see business improve, but at the slowest pace in seven months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IHS Markit said yesterday. The growth momentum could cool further until operating conditions normalize, the international research body said in a report. Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei TimesThe PMI report aims to capture the health of manufacturing sectors, with values larger than 50 suggesting expansion and points below the threshold indicating contraction. At the same time, growth in new work also slowed to a 10-month low, with companies saying the outbreak weakened domestic demand. Taiwanese manufacturers are generally upbeat about business one year ahead, but the degree of confidence slid to an eight-month low, IHS Markit said.

COVID-19: CECC defends legality of its smartphone systemBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday said that its smartphone contact registration system is legal and solely for contact tracing. Chinese-language media on Tuesday quoted two local health officials as saying that the registration system has limited use in contact tracing, as there is an enormous volume of data and the center is sometimes slow to provide it. The messages only show when the QR code was scanned, not details such as how long the people stayed at the venue, so that data must be obtained through precise contact tracing, Chen said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that the system was launched to allow people to register more easily and to assist contact tracing personnel to locate where confirmed cases have been. Health officials use the data to identify locations that confirmed cases visited, find possible close contacts and conduct disinfection, he said.

Fifty-five new cases as third Moderna batch arrivesBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 55 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and five deaths, as the nation took delivery of a third shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that it had purchased from the US drugmaker. Workers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday move refrigerated cases of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine after unloading them. Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei TimesThe infection sources of 31 cases have been identified, while 22 cases are under investigation and two are unclear, Chen said. Another case was linked to the cluster infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in Pingtung County, bringing the total to 15 — two imported cases and 13 locally transmitted cases, Chen said. The 410,000 doses is part of Taiwan’s order of 5.05 million Moderna doses.

COVID-19: KMT members jumped vaccine line, DPP saysCUTTING AHEAD: Members of the KMT sowed distrust in the AstraZeneca vaccine, causing public hesitancy to be inoculated, only to get the shots themselves, the DPP saidBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members of abusing their “special privileges” to receive COVID-19 vaccinations ahead of schedule. KMT Central Standing Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) said online that the AstraZeneca vaccine had adverse effects, Lo said. “We later found out that his father, Lien Chan (連戰), had already received the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Lo added. “We see KMT members striving to get their shots. People will not accept line jumping to get jabs through connections and special privilege,” Liu said.

HSBC apology shows HK banking fearsTENSIONS: The bank had announced changes to its terms from July 26, saying that customers might not be able to use online or mobile banking outside of Hong Kong HSBC Holdings PLC apologized to customers in Hong Kong after an update to its online and mobile banking terms stoked fears over overseas access to its services in the territory. The quick mea culpa by Hong Kong’s biggest bank — triggered by a Twitter post — underscores growing concerns in the territory over not only civil society, but also pressures on businesses as China tightens its grip. Banks are trying to navigate an increasingly fraught political environment. The Hong Kong government last week used them as a hammer to shutter the territory’s premier pro-democracy newspaper, the Apple Daily, ordering seven lenders against dealing

COVID-19: Nineteen poultry workers suspected to have virusStaff writer, with CNANineteen workers at a poultry cooperative in New Taipei City are suspected to have COVID-19, the New Taipei City Government said yesterday. The suspected cases were on Friday found in a screening of 523 people working at the cooperative or having visited its premises. Workers at a meat market in New Taipei City’s Shulin District yesterday line up for rapid COVID-19 tests. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei TimesAmong the 19 suspected cases, two are Taiwanese and 17 were migrant workers, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said. Meanwhile, the city yesterday placed 78 migrant workers who had contact with the suspected cases in quarantine, Hou said.

COVID-19: CECC to distribute 1.06m Moderna jabsSECOND-DOSE RECIPIENTS: People who got their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine before May 9 should make an appointment to receive their second shotBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced that 1.06 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are to be delivered to local governments in two batches from Wednesday next week. The lot release testing of 2.74 million Moderna vaccines, including 240,000 doses purchased by Taiwan and 2.5 million doses donated by the US, is expected to be completed tomorrow, it said. “The second batch will be delivered as soon as the local governments have nearly finished administering the first batch,” he said. The second batch would be used to vaccinate about 20 percent of the 65-to-75 age group, the center said. The CECC also urged people who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine before May 9 to make appointments for receiving the second dose after 10 to 12 weeks, as this would ensure better protection against COVID-19.

COVID-19: More than 10,000 furloughed: ministryStaff writer, with CNAThe number of furloughed workers amid a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert increased by more than 3,800 over the past week, bringing the total to 10,229, Ministry of Labor data showed on Thursday. The number of furloughed workers in the lodging, and food and beverage sector rose to 2,864 from 972 on Wednesday last week, the data showed. One-hundred-and-five additional companies in the sector furloughed workers, bringing the total to 175, it showed. The number of furloughed workers in the retail and wholesale sector rose to 1,559 from 944, the data showed. The data on furloughed workers cover only unpaid leave plans that larger companies are required to report to the ministry.

CECC reports 76 new local cases and five deathsPREVENTING WASTE: People over the age of 18 can register to receive leftover vaccine doses that would otherwise be thrown away, the CECC saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 76 new local COVID-19 cases and five deaths. A worker disinfects Taipei’s Huannan Market yesterday. The CECC has not found a correlation between the deaths and the vaccine, it added. A truck driver shows a negative COVID-19 test result before being allowed to enter Taipei First Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market yesterday. Those eligible for the vaccinations would be required to register at designated clinics and hospitals, which would notify them whenever leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses are available, he said.

Rakuten waives non-competition clause with IBFBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterIBF Financial Holdings Co (國票金控) on Thursday said that its Japanese joint-venture partner has agreed to waive a non-competition clause, paving the way for the company to invest in a commercial bank in Taiwan. The partner is Japan-based e-commerce company Rakuten Group Inc, which, through its wholly owned subsidiaries Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Card, set up a virtual bank, Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀), in partnership with IBF. The Tokyo-based Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Card hold a combined 51 percent stake of the Web-only bank, with paid-in capital of NT$10 billion, while IBF holds the remaining 49 percent. The entrance to a branch of Rakuten International Commercial Bank in Taipei is pictured on March 16. IBF chairman Wea Chi-lin (魏啟林) told an investors’ conference in April that acquiring a physical channel would raise the company’s efficiency, and IBF would pursue acquisitions that are good for shareholders’ equity.

Toshiba shareholders oust chairman in rare victoryBloombergToshiba Corp shareholders voted to oust Osamu Nagayama as board chairman in a rare triumph for activist investors seeking fundamental reform after years of scandal and allegations of mismanagement. The surprise decision on Nagayama, the 74-year-old outside director some investors opposed publicly, came after a contentious meeting with shareholders that extended for nearly three hours. A staff, left, guides shareholders attending Toshiba Corp’s annual general meeting in Tokyo yesterday. For decades, corporations like Toshiba have been run with what critics say is little regard for the interests of private shareholders. The 139-page document by three independent investigators outlined how Toshiba management allegedly worked hand in hand with public officials in an attempt to sway the outcome of last year’s AGM.

He got back to Taiwan without incident, and did 14 days’ home isolation. Barnes says the financial crisis of 2007-2008 taught him a lesson about the precariousness of his industry: “Travel is a luxury business. After South Africa, Barnes will again spend 14 days in home isolation. Asked if he thinks that the pandemic has permanently shifted work and travel habits, Lu shakes his head: “Not in my industry. Most of the decision-makers are pretty traditional.”Steven Crook has been writing about travel, culture and business in Taiwan since 1996.

CECC reports 129 domestic COVID-19 cases, six deathsBy Sherry Hsiao and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 129 domestic cases of COVID-19, one imported case and six deaths. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 14,389 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,167 imported and 13,169 domestic cases, with 605 deaths, CECC data showed. Of the 12,958 confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded from May 11 to Tuesday, 9,288 people, or 71.7 percent, had been released from isolation, the center said. Of the cases recorded after April 20, 2,444 people, or 18.5 percent, had severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, Lo said. More than 1,700 vaccine doses have already been administered at markets run by TAPMC, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said.