COVID-19: New infections fall to 37: CECC
COVID-19: New infections fall to 37: CECCFACING DIFFICULTIES: People who hold a notice of release from isolation must be allowed into offices and other venues without other certification, the CECC saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 37 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and two deaths as it said that people who hold a “Notice for Release From Isolation Treatment” (解除隔離治療通知書) should not be asked to provide a negative COVID-19 test result at certain venues. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the daily COVID-19 case counts have been falling, adding that there were two imported cases yesterday. Of the 37 local cases, 13 tested positive during quarantine or upon ending quarantine, he said. A soldier from the 6th Army Corps’ 33 Chemical Warfare Group sprays disinfectant on empty cages loaded on a truck near Huannan Market in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNAThey tested positive upon arriving at the airport, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 04, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC reports 76 new COVID-19 cases, 10 deaths
COVID-19: CECC reports 76 new COVID-19 cases, 10 deathsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 76 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and 10 deaths. Taipei reported the most cases at 48, followed by New Taipei City with 24 cases, Taoyuan with three and Hsinchu City with one, he said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, left, and a healthcare worker gestrue at each other at the First Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market in Taipei’s Wanhua District yesterday. Medical personnel administer COVID-19 tests to workers at the First Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market in Taipei’s Wanhua District yesterday. Of the total 220 confirmed cases, 93 are Taipei residents, 117 are New Taipei City residents and 10 are residents of other cities or counties, CECC data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: Media literacy more vital than ever
EDITORIAL: Media literacy more vital than everChina has ramped up its disinformation campaign against Taiwan, using a COVID-19 outbreak to provoke discontent against the government, an international newspaper said on Tuesday. The government certainly faces a dilemma in holding mainstream media accountable for what is reported, while also ensuring press freedom. After President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) offered condolences on Twitter last week to people affected by a building collapse in Florida, a reply came from what was obviously a fake account. The government should ensure that students take mandatory media literacy courses to help them make informed decisions about what they see and read. It could also require news agencies and social media platforms to flag information determined by an independent body to be questionable.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2021 16:03 UTC
COVID-19: Doctor warns on ill-fitting goggles
COVID-19: Doctor warns on ill-fitting gogglesNOT TOO TIGHT: Pericranial soft tissues are squeezed or pulled whenever a person wears goggles, which can lead to ‘goggle headaches,’ Sui Shan-chung saidBy Liu Bin-chuan / Staff reporterWith more people wearing goggles to protect themselves against COVID-19, experts warned that wearing ill-fitting goggles could cause headaches. Sui Shan-chung (隋善中), a doctor at Nantou Hospital, said that pericranial soft tissues are repeatedly squeezed or pulled whenever a person wears a hat, helmet, face shield or goggles, which could lead to supraorbital neuralgia, also known as “goggle headaches.”People experience “goggle headaches” after swimming if they wear ill-fitting goggles, Sui said, adding that the symptoms ease when they take off the goggles. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times“When people buy protective or swimming goggles, they should check if the goggles are too tight to wear, which could squeeze nerves and subsequently cause headaches. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration also advised people on the correct way to wear a mask to avoid damaging the skin. Non-medical workers should not wear an N95 mask, as it could cause a reddened and oily face, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
TAIEX tipped to sink to 15,000 in Q3, surge after
TAIEX tipped to sink to 15,000 in Q3, surge afterBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe TAIEX would likely fall to about 15,000 points in the third quarter if US monetary policy changes next month, but the index is expected to rebound, peaking at 19,000 points in the fourth quarter, Capital Investment Management Corp (群益證投顧) said yesterday. Local semiconductor companies and manufacturers of electronics would benefit from a global economic recovery, while 5G suppliers are expected to receive more orders as countries where the COVID-19 situation has eased accelerate 5G development, Tsai said. A woman walks past an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Taipei on April 20. Capital Investment is optimistic about local airlines as they have expanded capacity amid demand for air cargo, he said, adding that air cargo sales are expected to continue growing. The TAIEX yesterday closed down 0.02 percent at 17,710.15 points, with turnover of NT$607.08 billion (US$21.69 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
CECC reports 57 cases, 15 deaths
CECC reports 57 cases, 15 deathsLOCATING CONTACTS: An additional 41 cases were linked to an outbreak at a Taipei market, but were ‘not yet’ included in the center’s daily figures, the CECC saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 57 new local cases of COVID-19, and 15 deaths, while outlining its plans to curb infections linked to Taipei’s Huannan Market (環南市場). Among the local cases, Taipei reported 29, followed by New Taipei City with 15, while Hsinchu County reported four cases, Taoyuan and Keelung three each, Taichung two and Hsinchu City one, the center said. The 15 deaths were eight men and seven women in their 40s to 80s, all of whom had a history of chronic illness, except a woman in her 40s, the center said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, left, stands next to Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Chen said that no new cases have been reported in Pingtung County, where as of Thursday there had been 15 cases recorded caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Xi pledges ‘reunification’ with Taiwan
Xi pledges ‘reunification’ with TaiwanCCP CENTENNIAL: Responding to Xi’s pledge, the Mainland Affairs Council said that Beijing should drop the military intimidation and talk with Taipei on an equal footingReuters, TAIPEI and BEIJINGChinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday pledged to complete “reunification” with Taiwan and vowed to “smash” any attempts at formal independence, drawing a stern rebuke from Taipei, which lambasted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a dictatorship. China, which considers independent Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up efforts under Xi to assert its sovereignty claims, including regular flights by fighter jets and bombers close to the nation. “Solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the CCP and the common aspiration of all Chinese people,” Xi said in a speech on the centennial of the party. A woman takes a selfie as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech is being broadcast on a large screen in Beijing during the cenntenial of the Chinese Communist Party yesterday. He has batted back criticism of his government’s actions in Hong Kong, attitude toward Taiwan and treatment of Uighurs.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 16:00 UTC
Highways & Byways: The understated appeal of Pingtung City
Highways & Byways: The understated appeal of Pingtung CityA leafy cantonment containing historic military homes and a high-security Buddhist temple are among the reasons to visit Pingtung CityBy Steven Crook / Contributing reporterThe shrinking capital of a stagnating county, Pingtung City (屏東市) hasn’t found its way on to any kind of top 10 tourist attractions list. Silver-haired culture vultures and beach-bound backpackers zip through Pingtung City by express train, or bypass it on Freeway 3. VIP ZONEWhat was known for much of the postwar period as Shengli New Village (勝利新村) is now promoted as VIP Zone (勝利星村創意生活園區). For the time being, some of the more dilapidated military housing units in Pingtung City are to be left unrenovated. In 2019, when the Taiwan Design Expo was held at Taisugar Civic Park (台糖縣民公園) on the southern outskirts of Pingtung City, VIP Zone served as a satellite venue.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
FSC eases capital requirements for top banks to expand lending capacity
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.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
CCP threatening global democracy, MAC says
While conceding that the CCP has achieved “certain economic development” by adopting a Western free-market system, the council condemned the party for “strangling democracy and violating human rights.”Under the pretext of national rejuvenation, the CCP is becoming “increasingly authoritarian,” while turning its back on private enterprise, it said. “The CCP’s historical policy blunders and persistent harmful actions pose a grave threat to regional security and global liberal democracy,” the council said. The CCP must reflect on its mistakes and promote democratic reforms as soon as possible to return political power to the people, it said. The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation yesterday released the results of its first-ever “feeling thermometer” poll, designed to gauge public sentiment toward the CCP. The poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese have either negative or no feelings toward the CCP, You said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Arrivals need to get tested three times
Arrivals need to get tested three timesNEW POLICY: The Central Epidemic Command Center said the requirement is in response to the global spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterStarting today, all arrivals to Taiwan are to be tested three times for COVID-19 before the end of their quarantine period. The arrivals would be given a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival and at the end of their quarantine period, it said. Specimen collection rooms at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport await COVID-19 test specimens from arriving passengers yesterday. Arrivals who have not visited these countries in the past 14 days would also need to take a PCR test upon arrival, it said. However, all arrivals are now required to stay at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Four killed in quarantine hotel blaze
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.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Manufacturing PMI slows on outbreak
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.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC defends legality of its smartphone system
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.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
Fifty-five new cases as third Moderna batch arrives
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.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2021 15:56 UTC