Radio Taiwan International
Date: 04 May, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Tsai Chung-han has dedicated his 12 year career as a firefighter to educating the public on fire safety[/caption] A split-second decision could prove deadly in a fire… or it could save you. A firefighter from Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan, has been giving fire safety talks with the aim of helping people make the right decisions in an emergency. His words resonate even more deeply now, as Taiwan deals with the aftermath of two deadly fires in one week.

Tsai Chung-han is a 34-year-old firefighter from southern Taiwan. He’s dedicated his career to teaching fire safety. 

Five years ago, Tsai gave a TED talk in which he debunked popular fire safety myths. The video of his talk has over 3.8 million hits online. In his talk, Tsai lists three things that people do in a fire that often prove deadly, including: hiding in the bathroom, moving upstairs to escape a fire, and using wet towels to shield their face from smoke. 

Tsai hs given hundreds of talks around Taiwan. Schools invite him to speak to students to stress the importance of fire safety.  He combines real-world scenarios with interesting videos to keep his audience entertained and informed. 

As a firefighter of 12 years, Tsai knows the value of proper fire safety measures. Something as minor as knowing not to climb higher in a building to escape a fire, could be the thing that saves your life.
[FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date:\ May 4, 2020
By: Frank Fang

TAIPEI, Taiwan—A little more than two weeks before the World Health Organization (WHO) holds its next key meeting, countries from around the world are voicing their support for Taiwan’s inclusion, including the United States.

“Taiwan should be a member of the World Health Organization,” U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) wrote on Twitter on May 3. “Taiwan’s public health response to COVID was excellent and to isolate a nation of 24 million only weakens a coordinated response to future epidemics.”

Taiwan has earned international accolades for its success in containing the spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The island has successfully stemmed the spread of the virus without resorting to lockdown measures, while schools and businesses remain open as usual.

Taiwan’s professional baseball league, CPBL, was also the first such league in the world to start this year’s season, on April 12.    [FULL  STORY]

US-initiated movement urges world to support Taiwan’s participation in WHA

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/04
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Department of State initiated the #TweetForTaiwan movement, which urges the world to support Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) by tweeting supportive posts, Liberty Times reported on Monday (May 4).

The U.S. Mission to the UN (USUN) immediately responded to the movement, stating that the purpose of the UN is to hear all voices and the act of banning Taiwan from entering is an insult to both the Taiwanese and the UN itself.

The movement has gained traction among U.S. officials and members of Congress, including John Barsa, the acting U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio; both have posted tweets to express their support. Congressman Michael McCaul, the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also retweeted tweets related to the movement.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/04/2020
By: Matt Yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 4 (CNA) Taiwan's intelligence chief has defended his widely cited assessment last Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was sick a day before the dictator made an appearance at a May Day celebration.

As rumors were widely circulating that Kim had died or in a vegetative state, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) publicly told legislators on April 30 that "Kim is sick" and noted that his assessment was based on information obtained by the NSB and not his personal opinion.

On Friday, however, North Korean media released unverified images of a smiling Kim making his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, ending the absence that had triggered rumors of his demise.

At a hearing held by a legislative committee Monday, Chiu was panned by Kuomintang Legislator Chen I-hsin (陳以信) for making public comments on a foreign head of state.    [FULL  STORY]

NOT LOCAL: One is a student who returned from the US aboard a flight with others who later tested positive and the other was from the naval supply ship ‘Panshih’

Taipei Times
Date: May 05, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed two new cases of COVID-19: a student who returned from the US and another crew member of the navy supply ship Panshih (磐石), bringing the nation’s total number of cases to 438.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the imported case (No. 437) is a woman in her 30s who had studied in the US since Jan. 30 and returned to Taiwan on April 9, without symptoms.

She was first placed under 14-day home quarantine and then under home isolation on April 11 after it was learned that she was on the same flight from New York as Case No. 383, who sat one row behind her, Chen said.

The woman had developed a runny nose on April 15, but did not report it at the time because she thought it was only an allergy, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

• Those who came into contact with confirmed Covid-19 cases just before or soon after symptoms appeared were most likely to become infected
• Researchers say findings highlight the importance of early contact tracing and tracking as well as social distancing

South China Morning Post
Date: 3 May, 2020
By: Simone McCarthy

Most transmission of Covid-19 occurs at the very early stage of the disease or before the onset of symptoms, a study based on Taiwan's contact tracing system has found.

The research looked at the outcomes for 2,761 close contacts linked to Taiwan's 100 confirmed cases of the disease caused by a new coronavirus up to March 18.

Only 22 of those contacts were found to have contracted Covid-19, and all of them caught the disease from people who had not yet reached their sixth day of illness or had not even started to show symptoms.

The findings – published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine on Friday – come as countries around the world are looking to find the best ways to stop the disease spreading as they ease social distancing measures and start to reopen their economies.
[FULL  STORY]

Hong Kong Free Press
Date: 3rd May 2020
By AFP

China has condemned a US tweet backing Taiwan’s push for participation at the United Nations as the global body works with its 193 member states to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Beijing’s diplomatic mission to the UN expressed “strong outrage and firm opposition” to a message on Friday by the United States calling Taiwan’s exclusion an “affront” to UN principles.

The self-ruled island, which Beijing considers a wayward province awaiting reunification, has been held up as a model in fighting the virus.

Fewer than 500 cases have been detected in Taiwan despite its proximity to the Chinese mainland where the outbreak began.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei nightclub forces foreigners to provide travel documents, while not asking same of Taiwanese

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/04
By: Keoni Everington, , Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A photo of a sign announcing a new discriminatory policy in a popular nightclub in Taipei City surfaced on Sunday (May 3), after a group of foreigners was denied entry because they had not brought their passports, while Taiwanese were exempt from the requirement.

On Saturday evening (May 2), a sign appeared at the entrance to a nightclub on Songshou Road in Taipei's Xinyi District announcing a new policy to screen guests for symptoms and travel history to prevent the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). In red text directed solely at "non-Taiwanese citizens" wishing to enter the club, the announcement stated that it is now requiring all foreign nationals to present a passport with the most recent entry stamp, before they will be allowed inside.

However, the notice does not state any similar requirement for Taiwanese citizens, instead leaving it to some sort of honor code on their part. It also does not give an explanation of how foreign e-gate users could prove their last entry date.

The notice then stated the club would not accept customers who have a constant cough, a fever or temperature over 37.5 degrees Celsius, and have returned from abroad within the past 21 days, or come into contact with a person who has.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/03/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, May 3 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) recently sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) asking to participate in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA), but has yet to receive a reply, an MOHW official said Sunday.

The ministry sent a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asking to take part in the upcoming WHA, the decision-making body of the WHO, Liu Li-ling (劉麗玲), an official in the MOHW's Office of International Cooperation, told CNA.

Liu said the letter emphasized Taiwan's contributions to global health and the country's achievements in containing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease.

The letter was sent "recently," Liu said, though no answer has yet been received from the WHO.
[FULL  STORY]

SOME OPTIMISM: New Taipei City will today begin a gradual opening of publicly owned sports centers, libraries and other venues, but with entry restrictions

Taipei Times
Date: May 04, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) last night reported four new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nation’s total to 436, after announcing at its 2pm news briefing that there had been no new cases and it was mulling loosening disease prevention regulations.

The four cases are members of the crew of the supply ship Panshih (磐石), one of three vessels that had taken part in a “Friendship Flotilla” to the Western Pacific and which became the center of a scandal after 31 crew tested positive for COVID-19 following the flotilla’s return to Taiwan, forcing 713 other navy personnel from the flotilla to be put into a 14-day centralized quarantine.

That quarantine period ended at 12am yesterday, and tests on the 713 had been completed by noon, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told its afternoon briefing.

Those whose tested negative would be released from quarantine, although they would still have to undergo a seven-day self-health management period, except for the 346 who had been on the Panshih, who would have to pass a second test today before they could be released, he said.
[FULL  STORY]