‘TAIWAN MODEL’: The government aims to determine whether using normal scheduled flights better meets its objectives than the charter flights used previously

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 27, 2020
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Straits Exchange Foundation yesterday announced a third set of flights to evacuate 440 Taiwanese from China’s Hubei Province due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The flights, operated by China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) according to its normal schedule, are on Sunday and Monday next week.

They are to depart Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 7:50pm and arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 9:50pm, the foundation said.

China Airlines is to dispatch two Boeing 777.

The aircraft has a capacity of 358 passengers, but each would only carry 220 to ensure a proper distance is maintained between those onboard, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internationl
Date: 25 March, 2020
By: Jake Chen

The transportation ministry and Taiwan’s flag carrier, China Airlines, are investigating how the two pilots of a recent cargo flight became infected with COVID-19. 

The pilots were diagnosed Friday and Monday, respectively. However, the government’s Central Epidemic Command Center only confirmed the two cases on Tuesday.

Some China Airline employees have accused the company’s senior management of covering up the infections. These employees have told Taiwan’s media they fear that this could mean that any people these pilots came into contact with before their diagnosis could now become sick too. 

Deputy Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai said Wednesday that crew on China Airlines’ cargo flights do not mix with the public while on assignment. Wang said that while in airports, they only pass through areas reserved for crew, and that they rarely leave their hotels. Wang said he has asked the airline to identify and fix any gaps in their procedures and submit a report. 
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan's real-name mask rationing website now has English option

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/25
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The second version of Taiwan's new mask-rationing website launched on Wednesday (March 25) with an English option.

Individuals can place pre-orders for surgical masks between 8 a.m. March 25 and 8 p.m. March 27 on the second version of the eMask Ordering System. After many foreign residents complained that the website's interface was entirely in Chinese, there is now an English option as well.

Although the language barrier is no longer an issue, foreigners still only have the option of using their National Health Insurance (NHI) cards, and they must use a card reader to enter them into the system. Fortunately, card readers (讀卡機) are quite inexpensive at around NT$200 (US$6.60) and easily purchased at electronics stores and on e-commerce sites in Taiwan.

The card reader is needed to complete the process of registering NHI cards online. The registration process also requires the installation of a plugin, preferably on a desktop computer, as mobile devices require further authentication.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/25/2020
By: Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Taiwan confirmed 19 new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Wednesday, bringing the total to 235 in the country since the pandemic began, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.

All of the patients contracted the disease overseas and they consisted of 18 Taiwanese and an American working in Taiwan, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC.

Among the 19, seven were male and 12 were female. They entered Taiwan after traveling abroad between March 12 and March 22, and began showing symptoms between March 15 and March 23, Chen said.

The countries they had traveled to before arriving in Taiwan included the United Kingdom, the United States, Egypt, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Turkey and Thailand.
[FULL  STORY]

ACCLIMATION: Chen Shih-chung said that only ‘soft’ policies have been carried out so far, but ‘hard’ measures would be implemented if the coronavirus situation worsens

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 26, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday recommended that indoor events of more than 100 people and outdoor events with more than 500 people should be canceled, as 19 new imported cases of COVID-19 were announced, bringing the total number in Taiwan to 235.

“The center recommends that from now, indoor events of more than 100 people and outdoor events with more than 500 people should be suspended to reduce the risk of COVID-19 community transmission,” said Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the center.

Event organizers should refer to six indicators listed in the response guidelines for public gatherings, issued by the center on March 5, and evaluate the risks if they are still considering holding public events, he said.

The six indicators are: if information about the participants can be obtained beforehand, air ventilation at the event’s venue, the distance between participants, whether venue seating is fixed or mobile, the duration of the event, and whether proper hand hygiene can be implemented and masks can be worn by participants.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 24 March, 2020
By: Jake Chen

The COVID-19 epidemic has affected many sectors in Taiwan. A recent survey shows that 70% of companies in Taiwan believe the outbreak has caused worse damage than SARS did in 2003, and about 50% of the employees are worried they will be put on leave without pay at any moment. 

Ted works at a manufacturing company. The current outbreak has drastically reduced raw materials imported from China, and as a result, Ted’s sector has suffered. Ted says he often doesn’t know whether he needs to go in for work until an hour before his scheduled shift. His monthly salary has been halved, now hovering at only NT$30,000 (US$990).     [FULL  STORY]

Fox News
Date: March 24, 2020
By: Barnini Chakraborty

Taiwan is the latest country to accuse the World Health Organization of bending to Chinese pressure and says if the global body had listened to them, the novel coronavirus sweeping across the world could have been contained by now.

As of Tuesday morning, there have been 387,382 confirmed cases of COVID-19 —  a 12 percent increase from the day before. The United States saw a 31.9 percent jump in cases to 46,450 and is on track to eclipse China's number of 81,588.

CORONAVIRUS SENDS INDIA INTO LOCKDOWN AS TRAINS HALTED, MODI SAYS 'PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF'

Health officials in Taipei said they alerted the WHO at the end of December about the risk of human-to-human transmission but says its concerns and warnings were not passed on to other countries that could have benefited from it.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan has been blocked from participating since 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/24
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The chances of Taiwan being invited to the World Health Assembly (WHA), which is scheduled for May, as an observer are slim, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acknowledged.

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday (March 24), Bob Chen (陳龍錦), a senior foreign ministry official handling international organization-related affairs, said there is only “a slim chance” that Taiwan would be invited to the assembly. Taiwan’s participation as an observer has been blocked by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2017 due to China’s continuous attempts to isolate the island nation.

Chen said the government, including the foreign and health ministries, would nonetheless proceed with preliminary preparations. Over the past few years, Taiwan has sent a delegation, usually led by the health minister, to Geneva during the week of the assembly to attend side events and host promotional events advocating Taiwan’s inclusion in global health efforts.

The government will also work with allies and friendly nations to express concern over the issue during the assembly meetings, added Chen. However, he said the assembly is likely to be postponed until fall or conducted virtually, as outbreaks of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which originated in China and later spread throughout the rest of the world, continue to escalate, leading to lockdowns in a number of cities across the continents and the self-isolation of hundreds of millions of people.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/24/2020
By: Ku Chuan, Wen Kuei-hsiang, Yeh Su-ping and Emerson Lim

Taipei, March 24 (CNA) It will take at least another two months to contain the surging new coronavirus

disease (COVID-19) outbreak worldwide, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) predicted during an exclusive interview with CNA on Tuesday.

One of the reasons is that some patients exhibit few symptoms or are asymptomatic. They are not aware of being infected and so spread the virus to people around them unknowingly, Chen said.

Another reason is although drastic measures taken by governments around the world will help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, the ability of governments to control the outbreak differs, he added.

"Some suggest the outbreak can be contained before the end of April, I think that is too optimistic," he said.    [FULL  STORY]

OFFICIALS UNDER PRESSURE: Chen Shih-chung urged those eligible for home isolation and quarantine subsidies not to rush to apply, saying that they have two years to do so

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 25, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced 20 new imported cases of COVID-19 and one local case, bringing the total in Taiwan to 216, with one of the new cases being an American who was transiting in Taiwan, but felt ill at the airport and was hospitalized.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who is also head of the center, said the new cases were eight people tested at airports upon their return to the nation, nine people who were undergoing quarantine at home, one person who was under home isolation, and two people who tested positive after seeking medical treatment.

The most recent case is a French national who is studying at National Tsing Hua University, the CECC said in an update at 7:20pm yesterday.

Taxi drivers in protective outfits stand ready in Pingtung County yesterday. The county government has launched a taxi delivery service for people who are required to undergo quarantine.

Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County Government via CNA

Most of the cases were detected by the center’s airport screening and home quarantine monitoring mechanisms, while the two people who sought treatment were a married couple who had returned from the US on Wednesday last week before the center implemented a home quarantine order on all travelers entering Taiwan the next day, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]