Ministry backs ASE order confining migrant workersStaff writer, with CNAAn announcement by ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控) ordering its migrant workers to move from private rented accommodation to company dormitories is in line with Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) regulations, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Saturday. By stepping up regulation of worker accommodation, the company hopes to prevent more migrant workers contracting COVID-19, the statement said. The entrance to the Ministry of Economic Affairs is pictured in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: Lin Jin-hua, Taipei TimesThe statement did not specify which CECC regulations the company was following. Guidelines issued by the bureau on Monday last week state that companies operating assembly lines should divide workers into groups.

White rhino ‘Emma’ arrives in TokyoaAFP, TOKYOLike many humans, Emma has had her travel plans derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but after months of delay, the white rhino has arrived in Japan and is looking for love. She had been scheduled for transfer to the Tobu Zoo in Tokyo’s Saitama Prefecture in March. Emma, a five-year-old female southern white rhino, stands in the Tobu Zoo in Tokyo’s Saitama Prefecture on Friday last week. Photo: Philip Fong, AFP“After some delays due to the coronavirus, Emma, a southern white rhino, arrived at our zoo on the evening of June 8,” the Tobu Zoo said. Zoo breeding programs have played a key role in repopulating southern white rhino herds.

COVID-19: Too much screen time can hurt kids’ eyes: specialistBy Liao Hsueh-ju and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerRemote learning can place increased strain on children’s eyes and parents should supervise the amount of time they spend in front of a screen during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Hsinchu-based ophthalmologist said. Taiwan’s level 3 COVID-19 alert means that schools nationwide remain closed and have shifted to online classes. Chen Ying-shan (陳瑩山), a doctor at China Medical University Hospital’s Hsinchu Branch, said that he recently treated a high-school student whose sight declined from minus-1.5 to minus-3.5 diopters since the COVID-19 outbreak began. A student looks at a tablet screen while participating in an online class in Taipei on June 1. Resting the eyes means not using devices with screens, especially cellphones, which have a smaller screen than computers and are more tiring on the eyes, he said.

COVID-19: Eligibility for Moderna jab expandedROLLING OUT DOSES: The expansion aims to speed up Taiwan’s vaccination drive by making more Moderna jabs available to workers at hospitals, the CECC saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday expanded the eligibility for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to all healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers in the highest vaccine priority group. A total of 6,171 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and 9,507 doses of the Moderna vaccine had as of Friday been administered across the nation, CECC data showed. Boxes of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine valid until the middle of October are displayed in Changhua County yesterday. Healthcare workers receive COVID-19 vaccine shots at Chiayi Municipal Sports Park Gymnasium in Chiayi City yesterday. Prosecutors and forensic scientists might be added to the vaccine priority list, as those groups frequently come into contact with the bodies of those who died from COVID-19, Chen said.

COVID-19: CECC reports 250 new local cases, 26 deathsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 250 new local COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths. Most new cases were reported in northern Taiwan, with 133 in New Taipei City, 65 in Taipei, 16 in Keelung and 13 in Taoyuan, Chen said. Healthcare workers collect COVID-19 test samples from a person at a test station in New Taipei City’s Banciao District yesterday. Among the 26 deaths reported yesterday, 17 were men and nine women, who were aged from their 40s to older than 100, Chen said. The center is thankful that many people who had plans to travel over the weekend instead stayed at home, Chen Tsung-yen said.

COVID-19: CECC reports 286 local virus casesCARING FOR THE SICK: The center said that it would distribute monoclonal antibody drugs and negative pressure isolation units to hospitals across the nationBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 286 new local cases of COVID-19 and 24 deaths. The local cases are 141 males and 145 females, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a daily news briefing in Taipei. This week’s total case number seems to have slightly decreased compared with last week’s total, but has remained relatively level, Chen said. Photo: CNAPrevious centers of the local outbreak recorded the largest number of new cases, with 120 in New Taipei City, 56 in Miaoli County and 49 in Taipei, center data showed. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 12,500 confirmed cases, including 11,294 local cases and 1,153 imported ones, and 385 deaths from the disease, the data showed.

COVID-19: Allergies should not deter vaccination, doctor saysStaff writer, with CNAPeople who are allergic to certain foods or medications should still get vaccinated against COVID-19, as most reactions can be treated, a Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital medical expert said on Thursday. A medical worker is inoculated with a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital in New Taipei City’s Taishan District yesterday. At least 759,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Taiwan as of Thursday, most of them from AstraZeneca. Taiwanese are more prone to medicine-induced allergic reactions than people from other countries, he said. Vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson contain an excipient called polysorbate, while vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use polyethylene glycol (PEG), Chen said.

COVID-19: Taipei cabbies can double as deliver drivers: mayorEXPANDING OPTIONS: New Taipei City yesterday also announced that drivers could deliver meals and goods, a decision that local unions welcomed amid a virus alertBy Cheng Ming-hsiang, Tsai Ya-hua and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerTaipei taxis are allowed to double as meal and cargo delivery vehicles during level 2, 3 or 4 COVID-19 alerts, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Thursday. However, taxi drivers would have to follow industry accepted pricing and not use cab meter rates, he said. This would facilitate transportation for the logistics industry, give taxi drivers an additional source of income and help stores sell goods through online platforms, Chung said. Photo: Wang Shu-hsiu, Taipei TimeSome taxi drivers have chosen to stop working during the pandemic, but many say they cannot, as they have to support their families. Taxi drivers did not receive fuel stipends this year, Cheng said, adding that even if there were stipends, many drivers would rather rely on their earnings than government subsidies.

COVID-19: Clinic list shows people in line to get jabsBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterProminent businesspeople and figures in entertainment yesterday said that they were on a list and had been vaccinated for COVID-19 at a Good Liver Clinic (好心肝診所) branch in Taipei. A Good Liver Clinic sign at an entrance to one of its branches is pictured in Taipei yesterday. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that he had handed a list, apparently of names of people who Good Liver Clinic had vaccinated, over to prosecutors. The Taipei Medical Association condemned the Taipei City Government in a press release. Meanwhile, prosecutors have initiated an investigation into reports of “VIP access” to COVID-19 vaccines at Taichung Veterans General Hospital.

Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei TimesThe ceremonies and banquets usually make up the majority of flower sales during this time of the year, they said. Another farmer, surnamed Nai (乃), said that the overheads on a 293.4 ping (970m2) plot of land could be as much as NT$200,000. The county government is today to survey the potential losses, and the township would ask that any subsidies include the flower industry, he said. A farmer surnamed Lin (林) said that exports for Texas bluebells stopped in April, but domestic sales had also been battered amid the outbreak. Another farmer, surnamed Wu (吳), turned to online platforms to sell the flowers and minimize losses, offering a bouquet for NT$200 while giving away a bouquet for free.

COVID-19: Medigen results good, experts say‘SECOND BEST’: A researcher said that as phase 3 vaccine trials could take several years, it would be best for Taiwan to use the vaccines based on the phase 2 resultsStaff writer, with CNAPhase 2 clinical trial results of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp generated good data, experts said, although they warned that there was still no way to know how effectively it would prevent the disease. “Data look quite good,” Academia Sinica researcher Michael Lai (賴明詔) said on Thursday after Medigen announced that its vaccine candidate had shown no major safety concerns. There are many ways to produce vaccines, including via protein subunits such as the one Medigen is working on, he said. It would be acceptable for Medigen to apply for EUA with only the results of its phase 2 trials, he said. Medigen said it would seek an EUA from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible based on the promising results from its phase 2 clinical trials.

FDA unveils standards for EUA of local vaccinesUNBLINDING: The efficacy of locally developed COVID-19 vaccines must at least be on par with the AstraZeneca vaccine to be granted emergency use authorizationBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNAThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced emergency use authorization (EUA) standards for locally developed COVID-19 vaccines, just hours before Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端) announced its phase 2 trial results. The standards include safety data from at least 3,000 subjects and efficacy test results at least on par with the AstraZeneca vaccine, the FDA said. To determine the appropriate level, the FDA is to commission Ministry of Health and Welfare hospitals to conduct studies comparing the effect of domestic vaccines with that of foreign vaccines, Wu said. The unblinding would only reveal if there were differences between the subjects who received a vaccine and those who received a placebo, Wu said. The results must still be sent to the FDA before it can begin EUA procedures, she added.

Photo: Wu Chia-ying, Taipei TimesJust 28.1 percent of respondents said that they were willing to take a domestic vaccine not approved by the WHO, the European Medicines Agency or the US Food and Drug Administration. About 52.8 percent of DPP voters and 48.6 percent of Taiwan Statebuilding Party voters said that they were willing to receive a Taiwanese vaccine, while less than 30 percent of voters from all other parties said that they would. On the same day, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) told lawmakers that the vaccines budget approved last year had been used up buying foreign-made vaccines, Kao said. “Where did the budget for the May 28 order of 10 million doses of domestic vaccines come from?” she asked. Su did not directly respond to Kao’s questions, while Chen replied that the process was hastened to ensure manufacturers would be prepared to produce the vaccine doses.

Telecoms post annual revenue growthBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTaiwan’s three major telecoms yesterday reported that revenue grew annually last month on increased demand for mobile and broadband services, as working from home, online shopping and distance learning became new norms amid a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert. “As mobile users subscribed to more upscale plans, mobile service revenue continued to grow,” Chunghwa Telecom said in a statement. Net profit grew 5.7 percent to NT$2.96 billion last month from NT$2.8 billion a year earlier, the company said. Online shopping revenue generated at its subsidiary Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) accounted for 60 percent of its revenue last month, Taiwan Mobile said. In the first five months, revenue expanded 5.49 percent to NT$33.65 billion from NT$31.9 billion in the same period last year.

Average take-home wages increase 2.77%BEFORE SETBACK: The job market was almost back at a pre-COVID-19 level before a new virus outbreak, officials said, postponing the release of data for last monthBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterAverage monthly take-home wages in April gained 2.77 percent from a year earlier to NT$43,190, while total wages — including overtime and performance-based compensation — grew 4.27 percent to NT$49,930, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday, attributing the trend to an improving economy. Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Deputy Director Chen Hui-hsin speaks at an online news conference in Taipei yesterday. Major listed companies from different sectors posted record revenues last month, lending support to steady advances in monthly wages. Employees at airline companies enjoyed the highest average take-home pay of NT$74,981 per month, followed by workers at electricity and gas suppliers at NT$65,192, and employees in the financial and insurance industries at NT$63,884, DGBAS data showed. For the first four months of this year, regular monthly wages on average increased 2.16 percent year-on-year to NT$43,085, while total compensations gained 2.69 percent to NT$62,628, the agency said.