CECC RULES: The autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program, including mandatory mask wearing in eight types of public venues and indoor facilities, begins today

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 01, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

A temporary, two-week ban on Indonesian migrant workers entering the nation is to begin on Friday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday as it reported 24 new imported cases of COVID-19.

Twenty of the new cases are Indonesian migrant workers who arrived between Nov. 11 and Friday last week, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.

The cases were discovered during a special project on Friday to conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on all 939 recently arrived Indonesian migrant workers in centralized quarantine facilities, as the majority of imported cases in the past few weeks have been from Indonesia, Chen said.

Only 23 people tested positive, including three whose cases were announced on Sunday, and of the 20 new cases, 19 were asymptomatic, while the remaining one developed symptoms on Sunday, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 30 November, 2020
By: Andrew Ryan

​Immigration authorities say that Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport saw a huge increase in the number of arrivals on Sunday (4,322 people), ahead of new COVID-19 regulations on Dec. 1. The numbers dipped to 1,648 arrivals on Monday. (CNA photo)[/caption] Taiwan is requiring face masks at most indoor public places starting on Dec. 1. Health officials say it’s a preventive measure as global COVID-19 cases begin to peak in the fall and winter months. 

If you’re flying to Taiwan any time after December 1st… there’s some new rules you’ll need to know. They’re part of the Fall-Winter COVID-19 prevention program. 

Travelers will need to present a negative COVID test taken within three days of departure. 

Face masks are required in eight public places, everywhere from hospitals and clinics, to public transportation. 

Those that don’t comply will face a fine of up to NT$15,000 (more than US$500). 
[FULL  STORY]

The Conversation
Date: November 30, 2020
By: Natasha Heller, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Virginia

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that the world faces. A United Nations report has cautioned that greenhouse gas emissions due to human activity are at a record high, “with no signs of slowing down.” Many nations are recording weather extremes, higher average temperatures and rising seas. Meanwhile, the first wave of increasing numbers of climate refugees points to how a changing environment will reshape human life.

The changes in climate may have been caused by previous and current generations of adults, but it is the future generations that will have to deal with its worst effects. Today’s children will play a critical role in protecting the environment.

Confronting the crisis will require much change – and education is an urgent first step.

As experts have said, this education will need to start early, so that environmentally friendly practices become habits at a young age.    [FULL  STORY]

Driver's brakes went out on downhill slope

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A bus carrying 20 tourists to the Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area in central Taiwan to view maple leaves flipped over on Monday (Nov. 30), leaving one dead and 20 injured.

The bus, with 21 people onboard including the driver, had left from Kaohsiung to make its journey. When nearing the forest recreation area, the driver lost control on a curve and the bus flipped, according to CNA.

Nine of the injured were sent to Puli Christian Hospital, while the other 11 were sent to Taichung Veterans General Hospital’s Puli Branch.

According to Puli Christian Hospital, a patient surnamed Lo (羅) was listed in critical condition but was expected to survive.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/30/2020

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center 
(CECC) will start on Dec. 1 to carry out new quarantine rules amid a 
surge in COVID-19 cases around the world. 

The rules focus on three broad areas — community prevention, border 
quarantine and medical response. 

They require people in Taiwan to wear masks in eight types of venues; 
require that all travelers entering or transiting through Taiwan have 
a PCR test for COVID-19; and ask that medical facilities strengthen 
case reporting and testing.     [FULL  STORY]

Straits Times
Date: Nov. 29< 2020
By: Lim Ruey Yan

Taiwanese singer-host Alien Huang may have died from cardiovascular complications on Sept 16, but his good friends have not forgotten his birthday.

He would have turned 37 on Saturday (Nov 28).

His good friend and ex-girlfriend, singer Rainie Yang, posted on Instagram a composite photo of her with Huang, actress Ann Hsu, Ms Elin Yeh and another friend who goes by the online name Beachboi.

The five good friends are known as the Hwa Kang Gang of Five as they were graduates of the Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School.    [FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date: Updated November 29, 2020
By: Alex Wu

A Taiwanese analyst has slammed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s pick for national security adviser Jake Sullivan, saying that Sullivan previously appeared to support an idea that the United States should abandon its military support for Taiwan in exchange for the Chinese regime writing off $1 trillion in U.S. debt it holds.

While Biden is described by most media outlets as President-elect, The Epoch Times will not declare a winner of the election until all results are certified and any legal challenges are resolved.

Biden recently chose Sullivan, a former senior official at Hilary Clinton’s state department, to be White House national security advisor should Biden take office.

A Taiwanese economist Wu Chia-lung voiced concern for the pick, pointing to his stance on Taiwan as revealed by a 2011 email he sent to then-Secretary of State Clinton, published by Wikileaks in 2016. Sullivan was the department’s director of policy planning at the time.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei City feels Level 2 shockwaves from Magnitude 5.1 temblor in eastern Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/29
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A magnitude 5.1 earthquake jolted northeastern Taiwan at 9:42 p.m. tonight (Nov. 29), according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the temblor was 70.3 kilometers east-northeast of Hualien County Hall at a focal depth of 32.9 km, according to CWB data. Taiwan uses an intensity scale of one to seven, which gauges the degree to which a quake is felt at a specific location.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/29/2020
By: Hsu Chih-wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 29 (CNA) The number of reported HIV infections in Taiwan has declined for three consecutive years since 2017 due to the government's efforts, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih- chung (陳時中) said Sunday at a news conference to mark Dec. 1 World AIDS Day.

The number reached a peak at 3,377 in 2005 but has been declining due to joint efforts by various government agencies to curb the spread of infection, Chen said, citing statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

According to the statistics, as of the end of October, the number of people living in Taiwan with HIV had dropped to 1,190, down 21 percent from the same period last year, a year-to-date figure that could end up being the lowest since 2004.

In 2017, 2,511 HIV cases were recorded in Taiwan, while 1,991 were reported in 2018 and 1,755 in 2019, according to the data.    [FULL  STORY]

VIGILANCE: From tomorrow all arrivals must provide the result of a PCR test taken within three days, and the CECC asked people to report anyone who has faked their result

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 30, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) expects an increase in the number of returning travelers in the coming days, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday, adding that the varying qualities of COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test reports from other countries is a big concern.

Chen, who heads the center, was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders scholarship award ceremony in Taipei.

“As the global COVID-19 situation is worsening, and with some holidays coming up, there might be an increase in the number of overseas Taiwanese returning to Taiwan,” he said.

The expected increase in numbers in the next few days is also linked to a policy requiring all arriving passengers to provide the result of a PCR test taken within three days of boarding a flight to Taiwan, starting tomorrow, he said.    [FULL  STORY]