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Virus Outbreak: Chen, Azar talk by phone about prevention efforts

CONFERENCE CALL: Joining the top health officials from Taiwan and the US on Monday night’s conversation were AIT Director Brent Christensen and top ministry officials

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 29, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Department of North American Affairs Director-General Vincent Yao speaks to reporters yesterday during a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar exchanged ideas about COVID-19 prevention in a conference call on Monday night.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare Office of International Cooperation said the 30-minute call began at 8pm, and Azar praised Taiwan’s achievements in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and thanked Taiwan for donating masks to the US.

Azar and Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), had an in-depth talk about disease prevention strategies, global health and safety, and touched upon Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, the office said.

“This morning I spoke with Minister Chen of Taiwan regarding the #COVID19 outbreak. I thanked him for Taiwan’s efforts to share their best practices and resources with the U.S.” Azar wrote on Twitter shortly after the telephone call. “Now, more than ever, global health partnership is crucial and I appreciate Taiwan’s contributions.”    [FULL  STORY]

The Netherlands gives 3,999 tulips to Taiwan’s medical workers

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 27 April, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung displayed the gift of tulips from the Netherlands at his daily press briefing (screenshot of press conference)

The Netherlands Trade and Investment Office presented a gift of 3,999 tulips to Taiwan’s medical workers on Monday, King’s Day, the Dutch National Day.

The office delivered orange tulips and stroopwafels, a quintessential Dutch delicacy, to 35 places, including hospitals that are caring for COVID-19 patients and Taoyuan International Airport.

The gifts were also sent to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), where they were shown at the daily press conference hosted by Health Minister Chen Shih-chung. Chen said, "(The gifts) represent our friendship".

The office thanked the workers "for their determined contribution, generous sharing, and vigilant gatekeeping," which it said has "created another Taiwan miracle and deepened the friendship between the Netherlands and Taiwan."    [FULL  STORY]

Overcoming Taiwan’s Energy Trilemma

Carnegie Endowment For International Peace
Date: April 27, 2020
By: Evan A. Feigenbaum and Jen-Yi Hou
Source: Should Wang on Unsplash

Summary:  Taiwan needs to look not just to the energy it needs right now but also to the energy it will need ten to twenty years from now if it is to power its future.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Because it imports nearly all of the fuel that powers its economy, Taiwan is unusually vulnerable to energy market risks. Volatility has grown in the world’s major oil-producing regions, especially the Middle East, where the specter of conflict between the United States and Iran looms ever larger. What is more, over the long term, countries dependent on oil export revenue will need to successfully adapt to a world characterized by declining oil demand. They will likely struggle to diversify their economies and ensure employment, yielding another significant source of instability. Meanwhile, commodity markets, from crude oil to natural gas, have been buffeted by geopolitical volatility, political and investment risks, and technological disruption.

Still, Taiwan has had to manage such traditional risks before, and while political and market disruptions can of course be challenging to any economy, it can most likely weather these types of prospective shocks.

Taiwan’s more pressing energy challenge, therefore, is that these risks are being eclipsed by new dynamics that are reshaping future energy security, affordability, and sustainability—the so-called energy trilemma. Bluntly put, a paradigm shift is underway in how major energy stakeholders—such as government policymakers, producers, utility companies, and industrial end-users—approach their energy needs.

Taiwan needs to look not just to the energy it needs right now but also to the energy it will need ten to twenty years from now if it is to power its future. The number one and two drivers of this will be technological change and decarbonization, not necessarily the old drivers of cost and security.
[FULL  ARTICLE]

Magnitude 4.3 earthquake rattles E. Taiwan

Magnitude 4.3 temblor shook eastern Taiwan's Taitung County

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/27
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(CWB photo)


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A magnitude 4.3 earthquake rocked eastern Taiwan at 7:16 p.m. this evening (Apr. 27), according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the temblor was located 46.3 kiiometers north-northwest of Taitung County Hall at a focal depth of 5 kilometers, based on CWB data. Taiwan uses an intensity scale of 1 to 7, which gauges the degree to which a quake is felt at a specific location.    [FULL  STORY]

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan citizens can now donate masks to countries in need

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/27/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, April 27 (CNA) The government platforms for the online purchase of surgical face masks now have a function that allows Taiwanese to donate their quota of surgical face masks to other countries that are in short supply, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Monday.

People in Taiwan who have not purchased their nine masks per fortnight under the government's rationing system can access a function either on the website of the National Health Insurance Administration's (NHIA) mobile app or its website to easily donate the masks, Chen said.

"This is aimed at showing Taiwan's spirit of humanitarian assistance," said Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The donations to countries in need can be made in the person's name or anonymously, Chen said, but he did not disclose how many surplus masks the government has in stock.    [FULL  STORY]

Virus Outbreak: NTU experts urge action on medication, vaccine

NEXT STEP: The government should see this as a ‘time of war’ and loosen regulations for experiments and clinical trials, the university’s Chan Chang-chuan said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 28, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Public health experts at National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday urged the government to loosen drug testing regulations and direct more funds to the development of medication and a vaccine for COVID-19.

As some countries are entering a “post-COVID-19 period,” the development of medication and a vaccine are key to ending the pandemic, NTU College of Public Health dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said in the college’s 12th weekly report on COVID-19.

Aside from infected people who have produced antibodies, the majority of the global population does not have antibodies for the novel coronavirus, so developing a vaccine has become an urgent problem for governments, he said.

Chan said that the government should view the global competition to develop testing kits, medication and vaccines as if “in time of war,” and loosen the regulations for experiments and clinical trials — for example by allowing the omission of certain steps, allowing some procedures to be conducted simultaneously, or giving advanced approval.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan OFW to be deported for ‘nasty’ online posts against Duterte

Philippine Daily Inquirer
Date: April 26, 2020
By:: Jovic Yee – Reporter

MANILA, Philippines — For her “nasty and malevolent” posts against President Rodrigo Duterte, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) based in Taiwan will be deported to face charges of cyberlibel.

According to Labor Attaché Fidel Macauyag, caregiver Elanel Ordidor will be flown back to the country because her Facebook posts against Duterte were intended “to cause hatred amid the global health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

When labor officials went to Ordidor’s workplace in Yunlin County on Monday to tell her of the charges she might face for her posts, she “committed to delete all her uploaded videos against the President and promised not to do it again,” Macauyag said.

She also promised to issue a public apology, he added.

“However, hours after the visit, several posts were seen on the Philippine Overseas Labor Office Taichung Facebook page from several fake accounts (supporting her) cause,” Macauyag said, adding that labor officials learned that the caregiver was using four other accounts and a group “to discredit and malign the President and destabilize the government.”    [FULL  STORY]

Life after lockdown: Electronic monitoring, fines and compulsory face masks

New York Post
Date:\ April 25, 2020
By: Paula Froelich

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (center) arrives during a ceremony to unveil the Cyber Security Investigation Office New Tapei CityAFP via Getty Images

What will the new normal look like when the lockdown finally ends? If it’s anything like Taiwan, it will be a lot less social and a lot more authoritarian.

Taiwan was one of the few places in the world that didn’t go into lockdown and kept its economy running and citizens working while only recording six deaths out of 400 coronavirus cases.

But it made some immediate and, for the time being, permanent adjustments that could hold the key to what our future will look like in the age of the coronavirus.

While major international airports in the United States are still not temperature checking visitors to our country — and then losing track of them once they exit the airport — Taiwan is the polar opposite.
[FULL  STORY]

Those in home isolation, quarantine in Taiwan may visit sick family members

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/26
By:  Central News Agency

(CECC photo)

People undergoing home isolation and quarantine will be allowed to apply to leave their houses for one hour to visit close family members in serious medical conditions or to attend their funerals, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday.

The applications, which will be handled by local government health departments, will allow the applicants to visit close family members who may be hospitalized in serious condition or to attend the funerals of close family, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC, at a daily press briefing.

The person making the request will need to be symptom-free for at least five days since the start of their quarantine and must also gain permission from the hospital that their relatives are in, and must then be tested by local health departments, Chen said.

Should a negative test be received, the person can visit within two days of receiving their negative result, Chen said, adding that the total amount of time given for the visit is one hour. "Applicants must wear surgical masks and maintain social distancing at all times. They also cannot use public transportation," Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s ‘MacGyver’ makes mask sterilization device using groceries

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/26/2020
By: Chen Chih-chung and Elizabeth Hsu

Photo courtesy of Soochow University

Taipei, April 26 (CNA) As face masks are becoming an essential accessory amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, an expert in physics from a Taiwanese university has shared his knowledge and DIY skills to construct an ultraviolet ray mask disinfection device using common household appliances such as aluminum foil and old lampshades.

Chen Chiu-min (陳秋民), an associate professor at Soochow University in Taipei, is known to his students and colleagues for his skill in making household utensils out of recycled materials, dubbing him "MacGyver" at Soochow.

MacGyver is a character in the namesake American television series aired from 1985 to 1992, who was featured as a secret agent good at using his extraordinary talent for his extensive knowledge of using tools at hand to solve problems.

Recently, Chen made a simple disinfection system using aluminum foil, an old lampshade, a plastic washbasin and a 20-watt UV lightbulb that he said he purchased for only a few hundred Taiwan dollars.    [FULL  STORY]