Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/05/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday

confirmed two new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus, involving a woman who was likely infected by the 39th case and a man who returned from the Philippines on Tuesday.

At a press conference, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the 43rd case is a northern Taiwan woman in her 50s who attended floral arrangement classes with the 39th case of the virus, who was diagnosed Feb. 29 after returning from a trip to Dubai and Egypt on Feb. 21.

According to Chen, the woman sat directly across from the 39th case in classes on Feb. 24 and 25, and later developed a fever and sore throat, for which she sought medical attention on Tuesday.

The woman's test results, which were confirmed on Thursday, appeared to come as a surprise to the CECC, which thought that the 39th case had been successfully "contained" and that no one she had contact with had been infected.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 06, 2020
By Dennis Xie and Jake Chung / Staff writers, with CNA

NEW INFECTIONS: The CECC said that a woman who had been in contact with an earlier case and a man who traveled overseas were Taiwan’s 43rd and 44th cases

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday published guidelines for hosting large events amid the rise in COVID-19 cases worldwide, while the number of confirmed cases in Taiwan rose to 44.

The agency said that there have been warning signs of community infections in Taiwan; cluster cases involving families and hospitals; and local infections now outnumber imported cases, with the sources of infection in several cases remaining unknown.    [FULL  ST-ORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date:04 March, 2020
By: Jake Chen

0Labor groups protest government policies on migrant workers. (CNA Photo)[/caption] Labor rights groups are protesting against ramped-up government efforts to find migrant workers working illegally in Taiwan. The labor groups say that the push could harm efforts at containing the COVID-19 outbreak.

Several labor groups staged a protest outside the Cabinet on Wednesday after the labor ministry said that it will step up its search for undocumented migrant workers in Taiwan. The ministry says it will introduce a system of rewards for those who report illegal foreign workers.

The ministry says this push to find undocumented workers is meant to reduce the risk that they could spread COVID-19. However, Chen Hsiu-lien, an analyst from the Taiwan International Workers’ Association, says that the push will only serve to marginalize workers with illegal status.    [FULL  STORY]

Voice of America
Date: March 04, 2020
By Ralph Jennings

People wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Taiwan sits near Japan, China and South Korea, three countries with some of the world’s worst outbreaks of the deadly coronavirus, but the island itself has just 42 isolated cases.

Chalk it up to extra early, effective preparedness, analysts and policymakers say – so effective that people’s approval of the government unexpectedly soared last month.

Taiwanese health officials saw the virus taking shape in the central Chinese Wuhan in December and began checking passengers who flew in from there. They also cut off flights from much of China, the outbreak origin, before a lot of peers around Asia did.

Now almost every public building in Taipei offers hand sanitizer and a lot of them, such as schools, require that anyone entering submit to a fever check. Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control announces any new cases every day. In February it began rationing facemask purchases to head off panic buying.    [FULL  STORY]

Chen Shih-chung say community transmission inevitable and coronavirus may survive temperatures under 50 C

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/04
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Health Minister and Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) Head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Wednesday (March 4) that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) will not be slowed down by summer's warm temperatures as some have anticipated.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the new disease has claimed more than 93,000 victims globally, including 3,100 who lost their lives. While fears of the coronavirus continue to linger, a theory has been repeated by international leaders, such as U.S. President Donald Trump, that the virus will gradually burn out in the summer.

During a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan, Chen stressed that it is only a matter of time until Taiwan receives its first community transmission case and that the Taiwanese government is doing its best to prevent large coronavirus clusters. Chen said that the medical teams are taking a cautious approach to the steady increase of infections in the country, reported ETtoday.

When asked about whether summer can help stop the spread of the virus, Chen said that there is no guarantee and that the government "can only hope but not count on the theory." He added that most viruses are able to survive environments under 50 degrees Celsius, so summer temperatures are not enough to kill the coronavirus, according to the Liberty Times.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/04/2020
By: Wu Chia-rung and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) The export of all types of digital thermometers from Taiwan is now prohibited, as the government is trying to ensure a steady domestic supply amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, the country's Customs Administration said Wednesday.

The ban, which is effective from March 4-31, restricts the export of infrared forehead thermometers, ear thermometers, infrared thermal imaging cameras and all types of digital thermometers without the specific authorization of the national Bureau of Foreign Trade.

Furthermore, individuals are not permitted to mail digital thermometers abroad, but overseas travelers will be allowed to take two on each trip, the Customs Administration said.

The prohibitions do not apply to mercury thermometers, it said.   [FULL  STORY]

HOPE FOR THE BEST: Asked about his remark that a local outbreak is inevitable, Chen Shih-chung said that in light of the global picture, it would be wise to plan for the worst

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

There were no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command

Center (CECC) said, adding that 12 patients have been discharged from hospital following treatment.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news conference in Taipei that investigations into two cases had been closed, as the virus did not spread further.

The two cases — the nation’s 33rd, a man in his 30s who traveled to Japan, and 39th, a woman in her 60s who traveled to Egypt and Dubai, United Arab Emirates — were both considered to have been infected overseas.

The center is most concerned about the 34th case, which developed into a cluster of cases, because the 42nd case is a relative of a person who was in the same hospital ward, meaning that there might be a chance that the virus spread to the local community, Chen said, adding that it would closely monitor the situation.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 03 March, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Photo by CNA[/caption] Health Minister Chen Shih-chung has outlined some high-risk places and situations that you should avoid in order to reduce your chance of getting COVID-19.

A lot of people are anxious about COVID-19. If you want to reduce your chances of getting the coronavirus, you should avoid air travel.  Airplanes are a danger zone. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung explains the risks. "To be honest, long flights are a high risk. There are a lot of unknown people on the plane. Being in an enclosed space for a long time is dangerous," he said.

Going to concerts may be fun, but crowded areas are another danger zone to avoid. It’s great to feast with friends, but perhaps you can find something else to do, as large gatherings are also a risk.    [FULL  STORY]

Putting a recent “60 Minutes” bombshell into context from the senator’s long legislative history with Taiwan.

The Diplomat
Date: March 04, 2020
By: Kuang-shun Yang/   

Senator Bernie Sanders is famed for his “Democratic Socialism” platform that highlight domestic

policies, including Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, College for All, and so on. However, since the last Democratic Primary against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, Sanders has frequently been asked to expand on his foreign policy views as well.

A recent interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” may be the first time the general public heard Sanders talk at length about his views on many foreign policy issues. One moment that caught many people’s attention came when the host, Anderson Cooper, asked for Sanders’ view, as a potential commander-in-chief, should China take military action against Taiwan. Sanders responded straightforwardly: “I mean, I think we have got to make it clear to countries around the world that we will not sit by and allow invasions to take place, absolutely.”

It was an extraordinary commitment — it was the strongest support for Taiwan any U.S. presidential hopeful has expressed since George W. Bush. It’s remarkable that a frontrunner for the presidential nomination should demonstrate such clear support for Taiwan, which has long been a marginal topic in U.S. politics.

To many, “Bernie Sanders” and “Taiwan” may be an unlikely juxtaposition (although some close observers may know of Sander’s fondness for the island’s healthcare system). Considering Sanders’ long-held noninterventionist, if not pacifist, attitude toward U.S. defense policy, it is hard to connect Sanders to a U.S. intervention in the case of a Chinese invasion in Taiwan. Based on Sanders’ past records on issues related to Taiwan, the commitment he showed on “60 Minutes” is certainly a breakthrough.    [FULL  STORY]

Exercises originally scheduled to begin next month pushed back to second half of 2020

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

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The annual Han Kuang military drills originally scheduled for next month will be postponed until the second half of the year due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Ministry of National Defense announced Tuesday (March 3).

The military claimed the delay does not create a precedent, as a similar situation occurred in 2003 when SARS led to the postponement of exercises from May to September, Yahoo reported. While the military did not reveal a precise timetable for this year’s event, a spokesman mentioned the second half of 2020 as the general date.    [FULL  STORY]