Radio Taiwan International
Date: 26 March, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan has confirmed 17 new cases of COVID-19. The new cases bring Taiwan’s total since the

COVID-19 pandemic began up to 252.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung announced the new cases Thursday in the latest daily press conference about the pandemic. Most of the new cases are imported, brought in by patients who had recently traveled to the US, the UK, New Zealand, Spain, Malaysia, Morocco, and Mexico.

Only two of the new cases are local, but in both cases, the patients are known to have been in contact with other patients who had gotten sick abroad.   [FULL  STORY\]

Kent Online
Date:\ 26 March 2020
By: Chloe Holmwood

The coronavirus has claimed more than 570 lives in the UK and in Kent yesterday saw the biggest spike in cases, with an extra 30 people testing positive for Covid-19.

With the need for more ventilators to tackle the pandemic, tech company Dyson has pledged to

make 10,000, while Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, has secured life-saving equipment from Taiwan and believes we should be learning from their strict response.

More than two months on from their first case, they have had just 252 people testing positive and two deaths.

Mr Tugendhat, the Tonbridge and Malling MP, said: "I am very glad we have changed our tactics. The idea that we could be aiming for herd immunity, I think, was wrong and I am very glad we have changed that.

"What we are now doing, I think, is right, which is protecting as many people as possible."
[FULL  STORY]

Text with picture alleged Vice President-elect William Lai had been infected with Wuhan coronavirus

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/26
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fake obituary claiming that Vice President-elect William Lai (賴清德) had died of a coronavirus infection included expressions popular in China, indicating the origin of the posting, investigators said Thursday (March 26).

After a tipoff from a member of the public, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) investigated the item and concluded the Facebook account was not Taiwanese. It used simplified characters common in China and expressions not used by Taiwanese, CNA reported.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/26/2020
By: Flor Wang, Chen Wei-ting and Yu Hsiao-han

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) A majority of coronavirus COVID-19 patients in Taiwan suffer from mild symptoms, but have to be hospitalized for a long period for detox treatment, an expert with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Thursday.

Presenting an analysis of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Taiwan, CECC advisory specialist panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said symptoms were mild or moderate in about 70 percent of the 235 patients across the country.

In the cases examined, the youngest patient was 4 years old, the oldest 88 and women slightly outnumbered men, with a median age of 32. About 12 percent were at high risk, Chang said.

Of the 235 cases, 38 were locally acquired while 197 were imported, according to Chang.
[FULL STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 25 March, 2020
By: Paula Chao

National Taiwan University public health professor Chan Chang-chuan says people should stay at least two meters apart from one another to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.

Chan’s comments come amid a surge in the number of Taiwan’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, particularly cases imported from abroad.

In normal times, it’s perfectly normal to go eat out or have a cup of coffee with friends and family. But with the COVID-19 epidemic raging around the world, these times are far from normal.

National Taiwan University professor Chan Chang-chuan says people must take the outbreak seriously, adding that young people should follow social distancing recommendations just like everyone else.    [FULL  STORY]

Sputnik News
Date: 25.03.2020

The navy, air force and army of Taiwan conducted extensive military drills on Tuesday as part of the “Lien Hsiang” exercises – which also involved a mock invasion of the island.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Tuesday that it had conducted large-scale military exercises throughout the country that began around 5:30 a.m. on March 24 with simulated air attacks that were supposed to represent strikes from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

“The drills were designed to test the combat readiness of our forces and their responses to an all-out invasion by the enemy,” the MND said, reported the South China Morning Post.

A total of eight F-16 fighter jets of the Republic of China Air Force departed Hualien Air Base that morning and, during a number of missions, practiced intercepting long-range attacks from a mock Chinese aerial invasion. According to the Taipei Times, aircraft also practiced making emergency landings on the base’s backup runway in the event that the main runway was damaged and needed to be repaired by ground crews.    [FULL  STORY]

Head of research team at central Taiwan hospital looks forward to further research

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

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A chemical compound prevalent in tea might be able to inhibit the proliferation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the human body, according to the latest findings of a Taiwanese hospital.

The theaflavin extracted from locally grown Taiwanese tea may be an inhibitor for the coronavirus, which relies on a type of protease to replicate, according to Wu Ching-yuan (吳清源), head of the Chinese medicine division of the Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital’s Chiayi branch. Among the various types of tea in Taiwan, fermented tea contains even more theaflavin, he said.

The findings were published by the Journal of Medical Virology on March 22. Wu stressed that the report was based on molecule docking studies.

It remains to be seen how much theaflavin is required to produce the inhibitive effects, Wu said. Nevertheless, he said the study opened the door to further medical research on the topic.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/25/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun, Yu Hsiao-han, Chen Yi-hsuan and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday recommended the cancellation of mass gatherings of more than 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said the recommendation was made because venues where a large number of people gather together can increase the risk of spreading the virus.

Organizers of such events, he said, should assess the risks of holding them and decide whether to cancel them based on their ability to identify those who will attend the events beforehand, the quality of the venue's ventilation, and the length of such gatherings.

Other factors that need to be taken into consideration are the distance between participants, whether participants can walk around the venue or are restricted to a designated seat, and if they can keep their hands clean and wear a face mask, Chen said.

The CECC also advised event organizers to establish contingency measures should they identify "suspected COVID-19 cases" during gatherings, including setting up a temporary shelter for them and designating the hospital they should be sent to, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focua Taiwan
Date: Mar 26, 2020
By: Wu Shu-wei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Nearly 60 percent of Kaohsiung residents polled said that they would vote to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), think tank Taiwan Brain Trust, which conducted the survey, said yesterday.

A petition to recall the mayor is undergoing a second review and if it is passed, a vote is to be held in the latter half of June.

Of those polled, 69.7 percent said that they would participate in a vote, while 56 percent said they would still participate if there was a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 infections.

The data showed that, irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic, Han would likely be recalled, Taiwan Brain Trust director Wu Shih-chang (吳世昌) said.    [FULL  STORY]