UNNECESSARY? Chinese officials said passengers on the first flight did not need protective gear, but crew on a later flight on a Chinese airline were properly equipped

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 12, 2020
By: Yang Chun-hui and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

A China Airlines (中華航空) charter flight to evacuate Taiwanese stranded in China on Tuesday was delayed by Chinese authorities, who unilaterally attempted to make last-minute changes to the passenger manifest, an anonymous source said yesterday.

Just before the flight was scheduled to depart Hubei Province at 5pm, Chinese authorities attempted to add 30 passengers not on the original manifest, saying that there was “enough room in the cabin,” the source said.

They also refused to let passengers don protective clothing, saying it was “unnecessary,” the source said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 March, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Hand hygiene is one of the best ways to stop the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19, the flu and other viruses. A doctor in Taiwan has used the famous Korean pop star Zico’s popular hit Any Song to create a dance showing you how to wash your hands, and it’s getting a lot of attention online.

This is Korean pop star Zico and his hit, Any Song. A lot of people have been dancing along with it and now a doctor in Taiwan has joined in to promote… the seven steps to washing your hands.

You start off by… washing your palms, then the back of your hands, then interlace your fingers, clasp your hands, wash around your thumbs, wash your fingertips in your palms and don’t forget your wrists! 

This is the doctor in the video, Dr. Chang Chi-Chang said, "I wanted to find a light-hearted way [to teach it]."    [FULL  STORY]

• Some 470 people will return to the island from Hubei, the centre of the Covid-19 outbreak, following an agreement on how the repatriation would be carried out
• Taiwan complained that the first evacuation more than a month ago had included someone infected with the virus

South China Morning Post
Date: 10 Mar, 2020
By: Lawrence Chung

Some 470 Taiwanese stranded in the Chinese province of Hubei were due to return to the island on Tuesday night following a compromise between Beijing and Taipei.

The repatriation comes more than a month after the first batch of 247 who had been stuck in Wuhan, the centre of the Covid-19 outbreak, health minister Chen Shih-chung announced earlier in the day.

Talks about repatriating the 1,000 or so Taiwanese remaining in Hubei had foundered as the two sides started “playing politics”, as one observer described it, over sovereignty.

Taiwan also complained that an infected person had been returned to the island, undermining its efforts to contain the disease.    [FULL  STORY]

Banana New Paradise survived SARS and 2008 financial crisis but not Wuhan virus

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/10
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The popular “Banana New Paradise” restaurant in Taichung became the latest establishment to announce its imminent closure in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, reports said Monday (March 9).

The central Taiwanese city already saw its Landis Hotel cease operations, with the impact of the virus on tourism and travel a major contributing element.

The Banana New Paradise Restaurant will end its 30 years in business on May 10, Mother’s Day, its founder was quoted by CNA as saying. The landmark eatery relied heavily on nostalgia for old Taiwan in its decoration.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/11/2020
By Wu Jui-chi and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) A charter plane carrying 169 Taiwanese nationals stranded in China's Hubei Province touched down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 11:35 p.m. Tuesday in the second evacuation of Taiwanese from the epicenter of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The flight run by Taiwan's China Airlines had previously been scheduled to depart from Hubei's Wuhan City at 5 p.m. Tuesday but was delayed to 9:46 p.m.

Upon arrival at the Taoyuan airport, the passengers were to be sent to a provisional quarantine facility set up at the airport to determine if they have any symptoms of COVID-19, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Those who display symptoms will be immediately sent to hospitals for full diagnosis and treatment, while those who show no symptoms will be isolated for 14 days at three undisclosed quarantine locations to prevent them from coming into contact with local residents, the CECC said.    [FULL  STORY]

IMPORTED? One of the new cases is a man who visited the Netherlands on a business trip last week and a contact investigation has been launched to trace his movements

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 11, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed two new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections to 47 in Taiwan.

One of the new cases is a relative of a previous case and the other is a man who tested positive after returning from a business trip to the Netherlands, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.

The former is a man in his 20s living in northern Taiwan, who is the son of the nation’s 34th case and the brother of the nation’s 41st case, and had tested negative twice after his mother was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Feb. 28, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan's findings contradict officials who said a Taiwanese woman was likely the source of Egyptian infections.

Al[ Jazeera
Date: 8 Mar 2020
By: Ali Younes

Taiwan's government said on Sunday that an elderly Taiwanese woman who was part of a tour group in Egypt was likely infected with the COVID-19 virus while there last month and unlikely the source of infection of 12 Egyptian crew on a Nile cruise.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said in a statement on Friday the Taiwanese tourist was the source of the infection of 12 Egyptian cruise ship workers. One person died in Egypt on Sunday – a German tourist – and the number of infections jumped from three to 45 in one day, according to the Egyptian government.

But Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said it tested the Taiwanese woman, also known as "Patient 39", and sequenced the DNA of the virus strain found in her blood. That showed her infection had little similarity with the strain found in other Taiwanese patients.

The CECC findings contradict Egyptian and World Health Organization officials who said the Taiwanese woman was likely the source of infection of the Egyptian citizens.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date:\ 09 March, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

The opposition Kuomintang’s (KMT) new chairperson, Legislator Chiang Chi-chen, is vowing to reform his party. That’s in light of the KMT’s defeat in the January presidential elections. Chiang’s vow came Monday as he was sworn in as party chair.

The new Kuomintang (KMT) chairperson, Chiang Chi-chen,  was sworn in on Monday after winning a party election on Saturday. The 48-year old lawmaker won with over two-thirds of the vote.

Former party chairs Ma Ying-jeou and Wu Den-yih were present. But former KMT Chair Eric Chu and Chiang’s opponent in the election, former Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, were not.

Chiang represents a new generation of leadership for the KMT as the party strives to regain public trust after a major loss in the January presidential and legislative elections. Chiang served as minister of the now-defunct Government Information Office and has been a legislator since 2012. He won his legislative race in January with more votes than any other KMT lawmaker. He’s also the first legislator to serve concurrently as party chair.    [FULL  STORY]

Tzuyu is at home observing the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Koreaboo
Date: March 10 2020
By: Bella Kay

TWICE Tzuyu‘s mother Huang Yenling recently confirmed to the press that her daughter was at home in Taiwan and is currently under the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

If Tzuyu doesn’t show any symptoms of having the coronavirus (COVID-19), she will be allowed to return to Korea once her quarantine has ended.

Although she may be able to return to Korea, TWICE has been canceling their schedules out of concern regarding the disease. The group also released an apology post and posed with a picture of Tzuyu who couldn’t be with them due to the quarantine.

Yenling shared that her daughter is doing well, despite being bored and has occupied her time with watching movies and exercise.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei MRT will turn away passengers with fevers over 38 C by end of March

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said on Monday (March 9) that 16 stations will include thermographic cameras (thermal imaging cameras) to screen out passengers who register a fever of 38 degrees Celsius or higher by the end of the month.

Ling Chi-yao (凌啟堯), head of Taipei Rapid Transit Co.'s (TRTC's) media relations section, said that 16 thermographic cameras have been purchased, reported CNA. Ling said that they will be placed in stations with a high volume of commuters and tourists, such as Taipei Main Station, Ximen Station, Banqiao Station, Taipei City Hall Station, Longshan Temple Station, and Zhongxiao Fuxing Station.

On Monday morning, Ling attended the 18th emergency meeting to discuss the Taipei City Government's response to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. At a press conference that afternoon on the 11th floor of Taipei City Hall, Ling said that the devices will be installed on March 20 and, in principle, should be operational by the end of the month, according to the report.    [FULL  STORY]