Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/01/2020
By: Chang Hsiung-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 1 (CNA) There is no evidence that pets or other domestic animals have been infected with COVID-19 coronavirus or could spread it to humans, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said in a statement issued Sunday.

The COA issued the statement after the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in Hong Kong issued a notice that a dog living in the home of a person diagnosed with COVID-19 had tested positive a week earlier for the virus.

Both the World Organization for Animal Health and the World Health Organization have said there is no evidence that pets such as cats and dogs could become infected or transmit the virus, according to the COA.

The pet dog, which was under quarantine, had nasal and oral samples that were confirmed as "weak-positive" for the virus, although its anal samples tested negative for the virus and the dog has not shown any symptoms, according to the COA.    [FULL  STORY]

CAUTION: A woman tested positive in her third examination, though with a low viral load, the center said as it raised its alert level for Iran due to a high number of deaths

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 02, 2020
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced a new confirmed case of

COVID-19 infection in Taiwan and raised its travel advisory for Iran to a level 3 “warning,” urging people to avoid unnecessary travel due to the increased risk of infection there.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said the nation’s 40th confirmed case is a woman in her 70s who lives in northern Taiwan and was a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

She tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 15, when the ship was under a 14-day quarantine in Yokohama, Japan. She was hospitalized the next day and discharged after two negative test results on Feb. 25 and returned to Taiwan the next day.

She wore a mask throughout the flight home and was placed in a seat with two empty rows in front of and behind her, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

A civic group called for Taiwan to grant amnesty to an estimated 50,000 undocumented workers in the country, citing their fear of reporting COVID-19 symptoms and a workforce shortage.

The Diplomat
Date: February 29, 2020
By: Nick Aspinwall   

Taiwan was urged by a civic organization on Thursday to grant amnesty to undocumented foreign workers after an Indonesian caregiver working illegally became the country’s 32nd patient to contract the novel coronavirus.

The caregiver’s case raised concerns over whether the more than 700,000 Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan – including an estimated 50,000 undocumented workers – are being protected from the outbreak of COVID-19, as the virus is formally known.

Undocumented workers who fear being infected with the coronavirus “are very likely to become a loophole in Taiwan’s virus prevention network,” Global Workers Organization secretary-general Karen Hsu told Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency (CNA).

“Even if they know they’re infected with the disease, they’ll be afraid to come forward or ask for help, because they don’t want to be deported,” Hsu said.    [FULL  STORY]

• Tourism on the self-ruled island is suffering from the coronavirus outbreak, despite a small number of confirmed cases, government and insiders say
• Taiwan’s cabinet has put forward a US$1.96 billion supplemental budget bill, most of which is destined for struggling local business, including tourism operators

South China Morning Post
Date: 29 Feb, 2020
By: Ralph Jennings

Buffeted first by mainland Chinese politics, Taiwan’s tourism industry is now crumbling because of growing fears about the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Taiwan on Friday had recorded just one death and over 30 confirmed cases of the virus, which has hobbled mainland China with tens of thousands of infections and in the last week began expanding rapidly in Japan, South Korea and Italy.

Although Taiwanese health officials say the cases are isolated and reject the risk of a community outbreak, tourism on the island has contracted sharply this year, according to travel agents and the government’s Tourism Bureau.    [FULL  STORY]

Pilot scheme includes infrared measuring system at one Taipei Main Station entrance

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As five new cases of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) emerged Saturday (Feb. 29), bringing the total in Taiwan to 39, Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) announced that it would not allow passengers with a fever of 38 degrees Celsius or higher to board a train.

The MRT will install an infrared system at one entrance to the Taipei Main Station which will measure passengers' temperatures, CNA reported.

If the system records a temperature between 37.5 C and 38 C, then the passenger will be subjected to the use of a handheld thermometer. If the temperature is confirmed, the passenger will be allowed to enter, but he will nevertheless receive the advice to seek medical care as soon as possible.

However, anyone registering a temperature higher than 38 C will be refused entry into the MRT station and access to the trains, according to CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/29/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuang and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Feb. 29 (CNA) Taiwan has confirmed five new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus,

including four who are believed to have been infected in a hospital, bringing the country's total number of cases to 39, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday.

Four of the new cases, including three nurses and one janitor, likely caught the virus through contact with the 34th case, who spent time in the hospital before being diagnosed, the CECC said.

According to the CECC, the 34th case is a northern Taiwan woman in her 50s who suffers from diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and has no recent history of travel abroad. The source of infection for her case is currently unknown.

On Feb. 14, the woman sought medical attention for fatigue and was admitted to the hospital. However, she did not manifest any symptoms of the virus until Feb. 21, when she developed a cough and fever, leading to her diagnosis, the command center said.   [FULL  STORY]

TRACKING DOWN: Four of the new cases are hospital personnel who had come into contact with a previous case, while the other is a woman who had traveled abroad

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 01, 2020
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Five new COVID-19 cases were confirmed yesterday, including four linked to the 34th case who

are believed to have been infected in a hospital, bringing Taiwan’s total number of confirmed cases to 39, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.

Cases 35 through 38 are a janitor and three nurses working at the hospital where the 34th case was hospitalized.

The 34th case is a woman living in northern Taiwan who had not traveled overseas in the 14 days prior to being confirmed as having COVID-19, the center said.

The CECC believes the woman transmitted the virus to the janitor, who was stationed at the emergency room, before spreading it to the three nurses working in the ward where she was later placed, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news conference in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 28 February, 2020
By: Paula Chao

President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to continue pushing for transitional justice and human rights education. Tsai was speaking Friday at a ceremony marking the 73rd anniversary of the 228 Incident.

The 228 Incident refers to a violent suppression which took place on February 28, 1947. On that day, Taiwan’s military forcefully put down an uprising against the Kuomintang-led government. The final death count of the 228 Incident is unknown, however, scholars estimate anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 people died as a result of the violent suppression.

Tsai says the purpose of the Transitional Justice Commission, which was established in May 2018, is to investigate the actions taken by the authoritarian KMT government between August 1945 and November 1992.    [FULL  STORY]

Amid a global health threat, international organizations shouldn’t be playing Beijing’s political games.

Foreign Policy
Date: February 28, 2020
By: Stanley Kao

A man points to a webpage promoting prevention of the deadly coronavirus from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook account in Taipei on Feb. 14. SAM YEH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The novel coronavirus outbreak has resulted in more than 80,000 confirmed cases and killed nearly 3,000 people worldwide. Its spread has already surpassed the total number of casualties during the SARS crisis in 2002-2003. The World Health Organization (WHO) belatedly declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30.

Some 60,000 flights carry 10 million passengers between Taiwan and China every year. Taiwan has an acute interest in protecting its own and the world’s welfare from this latest health threat. After the painful but valuable experience of dealing with SARS in 2003, Taiwan’s government is making maximum and keenly effective efforts to prevent further outbreaks on the island.

However, Taiwan was excluded from the WHO emergency meetings on the new coronavirus crisis. In fact, Taiwan has been denied permission to attend the annual World Health Assembly and WHO technical and experts’ meetings since 2016 due to Beijing’s aggressive attempts at limiting Taiwan’s international participation.    [FULL  STORY]

Aircraft flew over Bashi Channel and back

Taiwan News
Date:} 2020/02/28
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Taiwan was marking a public holiday, a Chinese Xi’an H-6 strategic bomber flew close to the island’s southwest coast Friday (Feb. 28) afternoon, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

During the months running up to the January 11 presidential and legislative elections, Chinese military ships and aircraft regularly approached Taiwan on several sides in moves widely interpreted as threats to influence the vote.    [FULL  STORY]