A shipment of 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, donated by Japan, is unloaded yesterday after arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The text “Taiwan loves Japan” is displayed on Taipei 101 yesterday after Japan sent Taiwan with 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which arrived in Taiwan yesterday. Originally a regular passenger flight between Tokyo and Taoyuan, the flight was canceled to transport the vaccine doses. “Taiwan always accompanies Japan through pain or agony,” Japanese Representative to Taiwan Hiroyasu Izumi said in a statement in Mandarin. The White House on Thursday detailed its plan to distribute 25 million vaccine doses, the first of 80 million it plans to share worldwide by the end of the month.

Heavy rain causes floods in TaipeiDRENCHED: The heavy rain caused knee-deep floods in several areas, with city officials saying they received 274 damage reports, including 260 caused by floodingBy Kuo An-chia and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, staff writer, with CNAHeavy downpours brought by a plum rain front and approaching Tropical Storm Choi-Wan caused flooding in many parts of Taipei yesterday afternoon. The heavy rain also caused knee-deep flooding in areas around Bojia Elementary School and Muzha Road in Wenshan District, as well as near Zhongxiao E Road in Xinyi District near Zhongxiao Fire Station. A section along Civic Boulevard in Taipei’s Xinyi District is flooded yesterday amid heavy rain. The thundershowers, which began at about noon, came after the Central Weather Bureau issued a heavy or extremely heavy rain warning earlier in the day for 16 cities and counties across the nation. A first grade flooding warning refers to a scenario where one hour of rainfall causes serious flooding in an affected area, whereas a second grade warning suggests serious flooding within three hours, the agency said.

Presale housing market sentiment remains sluggishBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterA gauge for buying sentiment in the presale housing market in northern Taiwan last month flashed a “yellow-blue” light, signifying a sluggish market, for the 15th consecutive month, as a surge in locally transmitted COVID-19 inflections chilled transactions, the Chinese-language My Housing Monthly said in a report yesterday. High-rise buildings are Taipei’s Xinyi District are pictured on May 26. Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei TimesThe situation is unlikely to improve this month, and construction of housing projects has slowed due to worsening labor and material shortages, the report said. Presale projects last month totaled more than NT$60 billion (US$2.17 billion), most of which were launched before May 15, it said. Buying interest evaporated from the third week of last month, with more than 50 percent of presale housing reception sites reporting no visitors at all, Ho said.

Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei TimesDPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that New Taipei City is talking a lot, but doing little, which shows that it is becoming fatigued from dealing with COVID-19. As of Wednesday, New Taipei City had recorded 3,947 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which Banciao District (板橋), with 885 cases, is one of the hardest-hit areas in the city, Lo said. It is astonishing to see the official numbers released by the New Taipei City Government, with 218 of 1,032, or 21.12 percent, boroughs deemed hot spots, Lo said. Lo called on the New Taipei City Government to offer tangible measures and concrete instructions to prevent panic. There are 12,000 caregivers working at such centers in New Taipei City, almost double the number in Taipei, Hou said, urging the central government to arrange for inoculations to prevent cluster infections in care facilities.

COVID-19: DPP condemn attack, support aid for medical staffBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday condemned a knife attack that injured three nurses at a New Taipei City hospital by a COVID-19 patient on Monday, while vowing to support amendments proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to provide financial compensation to medical personnel in such cases. A police car is parked at the entrance to the emergency department of Shuang Ho Hospital in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District yesterday after a COVID-19 patient injured three medical personnel. People were disheartened by the attack, DPP caucus director-general Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) told a news conference in Taipei. The legislature in 2017 amended the Medical Care Act (醫療法) to impose more severe punishments for people who use violence, coercion or intimidation to cause serious injury to medical personnel, he said. We must not permit violence to spread, to undermine our society’s safety net, held together by medical personnel,” Liu said.

Higher prices lift Nanya’s revenueBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterDRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported NT$7.6 billion (US$274.33 million) in revenue last month, its highest in nearly three years, as robust demand lifted prices. Revenue rose 2.84 percent from April and soared 37.02 percent from a year earlier, as its factories ran at full capacity, Nanya said. Last month’s revenue marked its best May figure, fueled by rising demand for DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, while shipments of SSD continued to climb higher to NT$1.43 billion last month, it said. Adata chairman Simon Chen (陳立白) yesterday said that the company was confident about business prospects in the second quarter and expected revenue to be high in the third quarter. Increasing memory space for mobile phones, servers and PCs, as well as the Chia cryptocurrency craze, has fueled demand for NAND flash memory chips, he said.

COVID-19: CECC mulls testing at dialysis clinicsEXPANDING TESTS: Experts have recommended that hemodialysis patients in Taipei and New Taipei City undergo COVID-19 tests at least once a week, the center saidBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is considering advising hemodialysis centers, especially in Taipei and New Taipei City, to perform regular COVID-19 testing on their patients, it said yesterday, amid concerns about cluster infections at similar facilities with senior patients. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei TimesExperts have discussed recommending that hemodialysis patients in Taipei and New Taipei City undergo a rapid COVID-19 test once a week, CECC expert advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said. Meanwhile, 180 people — including 47 staff members and 133 others — at various health and welfare facilities across the nation have been confirmed to have COVID-19, Lo said. The cases are spread across 60 residential and nonresidential facilities, including 37 long-term care facilities, five nursing facilities, three psychiatric care or rehabilitation facilities and 15 social welfare facilities, he said. A nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert started on May 19 is in effect until June 14.

Economy looks solid, central bank saysBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe economy remains solid, despite an escalating COVID-19 outbreak that appears thus far to have no impact on manufacturing activity, the backbone of exports, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei on April 19. The central bank in March predicted GDP growth of 4.53 percent for this year and will update its forecast in two weeks, Yang said. The board meeting is to take place in three separate rooms for directors, supervisors and central bank officials to minimize infection risks, he said. The central bank did not move the meeting online for fear that confidential details might be leaked during the course of delivery, he added.

Household cases hit 40% in Taipei, New Taipei CityBy Chou Hsiang-yun, Chiu Shu-yu, Yang Hsin-hui and Kayleigh Madj / Staff reporters, with staff writerHousehold infections accounted for about 40 percent of the new COVID-19 cases in Taipei and New Taipei City over the past three days, their governments said yesterday, urging people to visit virtually and refrain from going out over the next two weeks. From April 26 to yesterday, there were 4,217 cases in New Taipei City, with 947 in Banciao (板橋) alone, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said, adding that 4,535 people are in home quarantine. New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi convenes a pandemic response meeting at the New Taipei City Emergency Operation Center yesterday. Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei TimesPingsi (平溪), Shuangsi (雙溪) and Wulai (烏來) districts, known for their broad mountainous areas, are the only districts in New Taipei City to have reported no cases, data showed. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je gives his assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak at the city’s Epidemic Command Center yesterday.

CECC confirms 364 cases; Japan sends 1.24m dosesTIMELY DONATIONS: The ‘Liberty Times’ has reported that 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Japan are to arrive in Taiwan todayBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 364 new domestic cases of COVID-19, 219 backlogged cases and 17 deaths, while more than 1 million vaccine doses donated by Japan are to arrive today. A boy gives the thumbs up yesterday to billboards in Pingtung County’s Kenting admonishing people for being outside. Of the cases reported outside Taipei and New Taipei City, 77 had known sources of infection, 14 had unclear connections with other cases and three were under investigation, it said. Members of the Army’s 33rd Chemical Corps disinfect an area in New Taipei City’s Banciao District yesterday. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 9,974 confirmed cases of COVID-19: 1,143 imported cases, 8,778 domestic cases and 166 deaths, center data showed.

Expanded relief to benefit 7.3 millionNEAR-TERM AID: Premier Su Tseng-chang said those who applied for relief last year and qualify under this year’s conditions might receive their money todayBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAThe Executive Yuan yesterday approved a NT$260 billion (US$9.38 billion) expansion to the COVID-19 relief program known as “Stimulus 4.0,” which would funnel subsidies to 7.3 million Taiwanese. First-time applicants for pandemic relief should apply remotely via the Ministry of Labor’s Web site (https://edesk.bli.gov.tw/aa/) or by mail from Monday next week, Su added. The inclusion of those who are self-employed and childrearing households expanded the relief program 80 percent, Kung said. The Ministry of Labor said that the relief would benefit 1.85 million self-employed workers and workers without a definite employer. Qualified workers would, depending on their income, receive a subsidy of NT$10,000 or NT$30,000, the labor ministry said.

Germany is helping in BioNTech talks: PrinzBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe German government has zealously helped Taiwan to negotiate with COVID-19 vaccine supplier BioNTech SE, but wrapping up a deal depends on the two signatories, the German Institute Taipei said yesterday, as vaccine procurement disputes continue to roil the nation. “We have noticed the recent controversy about vaccine acquisition,” German Institute Taipei Director-General Thomas Prinz said in a Chinese-language post on Facebook yesterday. German Institute Taipei Director-General Thomas Prinz is pictured in front of the German Institute Taipei in an undated photograph. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has been reluctant to acquire vaccine doses through BioNTech’s Chinese representative, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group (上海復星醫藥集團). China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Tuesday urged the DPP to stop politicizing vaccine procurement, saying that it is ready to help Taiwan.

TSMC unveils layout of Arizona fabEXPANSION DRIVE: To expedite manufacturing of advanced chips, the chipmaker would transform domestic research centers into initial production facilities, TSMC saidBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday unveiled the layout of its new fab in Arizona and reiterated its determination to ramp up advanced 5-nanometer chip production in 2024. “As we expect demand for 5-nanometer [chips] will be strong and sustainable in the long term, we have made the Arizona fab, Fab 21, one of the 5-nanometer manufacturing sites,” TSMC chief executive officer C.C. The first phase of the Arizona fab would have an installed capacity of 20,000 wafers a month, TSMC said. Its fabs in Tainan would be its major manufacturing sites for 3-nanometer chips, TSMC said. TSMC in 2018 forecast that its advanced technology capacity would expand at a compound annual rate of 30 percent from 2018 to this year.

COVID-19 patient arrested after fleeing Taipei hospitalBy Tsai Ssu-pei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter and staff writer, with CNATaipei police yesterday apprehended a COVID-19 patient after he allegedly escaped from a hospital isolation ward following a scuffle with officers. The man, surnamed Chen (陳), 71, was arrested at his residence in Wanhua District (萬華) hours after his flight from the hospital, a Taipei Police Department spokesman said. Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei TimesAs Chen was known to be infected with COVID-19, doctors placed him in a modular patient unit outside the hospital complex to await medical attention, he said. The hospital called the police and the responding officers subdued Chen after a short struggle, he said. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office had issued an arrest warrant for Chen in connection to an unrelated assault that occurred last month, he said.

China Television gets ‘passing grade’ from the NCCBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterChina Television (CTV) received a passing grade for its performance from 2016 to 2019, although it must lower its debt ratio to below 60 percent before its operating license expires in 2025 while not firing employees for adhering to its own broadcasting guidelines, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday. It was CTV’s first performance review since the network’s license renewal application was approved in 2016, the commission said. A terrestrial television license is valid for nine years, and the commission is authorized to evaluate a licenced network’s performance every three years. The passing grade was granted on two conditions, the NCC said. CTV’s management must revise its broadcasting guidelines, provide the employment guidelines and submit the revised guidelines to the commission within six months after it is officially notified about the evaluation, the commission said.