TAKING PRECAUTIONS: The institution said it would move much of its personnel to its activity center and would not rent conference rooms to groups of more than 100

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 22, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

Academia Sinica yesterday closed its sports center and five museums on its campus in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) after one of its staff was confirmed to have COVID-19.

In a notice on its Web site on Friday, the nation’s top academic research institution said that 16 people who had direct contact with the person are under home quarantine, while an additional 25 people who worked on the same floor are undergoing 14-day self-health management at home.

Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) later issued a Chinese-language letter to faculty members, reminding them to adhere to updated measures against “the Wuhan pneumonia.”

Over the past month, the institution has made several breakthroughs in research on the virus, which has raised local morale and won international acclaim, he wrote.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatiional
Date: 20 March, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Religious processions like this one in Yunlin County are the latest victims of the COVID-19 outbreak.[/caption] COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of all types of mass gatherings- including traditional religious assemblies. For the first time in its century-long history, one annual religious celebration held in Yunlin County has been called off, and a simplified ceremony is set to serve in its place.

The Liufang Mazu statue is unique in Taiwan’s folk religion for being a sacred statue without a fixed temple to call home. Instead, five Yunlin County townships take it in turns to house and venerate this statue of the sea goddess Mazu.

Every year, when it’s time for her to move on from one township to another, locals put her on a palanquin and parade her to her next home in grand style. Not this year, though.

COVID-19 has led to the cancellation of this century-old parade for the first time. A traditional ceremony in the goddess’ honor will go ahead, but in a simplified form, and only with a small group of designated people allowed to take part.    [FULL  STO-RY]

Institut Montaigne
Date: 20 March 2020
By: Mathieu Duchâtel

An immediate response, before the first positive test on the island, a strict quarantine policy, a nationalized mask economy, and precise digital tools for a case-by-case situation awareness: these are the ingredients of Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, for the first paper of our series "Fighting the coronavirus: East Asian responses", which explores the toolbox of public policy options to contain and defeat the virus.

Key policies

• Responses 21 days BEFORE a first case is detected: as early as December 31 with increased inspection measures to screen passengers on inbound travel from Wuhan for early signs, with a Central Epidemic Command Center activated by January 20, under the centralized authority of Minister of Health and Welfare.
• Delay between first case and most strong measures in place: 2 to 11 days.
• Integration on January 27 of databases to ensure access to the travel history of suspected cases to the National Health Administration
• Extremely strict enforcement of quarantine rules: intrusive tracing during the 14-day incubation period, screening of contact history, fines for violators, allowing Taiwan to avoid confinement and major lockdowns
• Testing of individuals showing symptoms but no systematic testing of individuals quarantined
• Strong focus from Jan. 24 on surgical and N95 mask production and distribution: government measures to ramp up production, rationing and nationalization of distribution, early export ban, and a nation-wide digital system to show the availability of masks in real-time
• Entry bans gradually expanding from Hubei residents to all Chinese nationals in early February and to all foreigners in mid-March (with an exception for low-skill foreign labor)
• A rule-of-law approach based on the standard operations procedures detailed in the Communicable Diseases Control Act 

[FULL  STORY]

In addition to closing cultural and sports venues, New Taipei is controlling access to medical facilities

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/20
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) announced on Friday (March 20) a partial ban on visiting patients at the city’s hospitals as part of its measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmissions.

The partial ban will be applied to 53 hospitals and 142 nursing homes in the most populous city in Taiwan. Individuals planning to see a doctor at these hospitals are also prohibited from bringing with them more than one companion, reported Newtalk.

For intensive care units, restrictions will be imposed on the hours available for visiting the sick, each session limited to two people. Video visitation is advised at the 214 long-term care, retirement, and rehabilitation institutions, and visits to these facilities, in designated areas, will have to be conducted in under 30 minutes.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/20/2020
By: Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Twenty-seven new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Taiwan Friday, bringing the total number around the country to 135, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that day.

Of the new cases, 24 (15 women and nine men) were imported, with the ages of those infected ranging from senior high school students to people in their 80s, the CECC's latest updates show.

All are Taiwanese nationals, except for one American man in his 40s.

Returning to Taiwan between March 6 and March 18, all those infected began to develop symptoms between March 3 and March 18, the updates indicate.    [FULL  STORY]

CARCINOGENS: The maximum limits for sulfur in ship and aircraft fuel are to be lowered, while the levels of two compounds in gasoline and diesel would also fall

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 21, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

All ships, commercial aircraft and road vehicles would have to follow stricter rules for fuel from July as part of efforts to reduce sulfur oxides and carcinogenic pollutants to improve air quality, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

The combustion of fuel containing sulfur and hydrogen produces sulfur oxides and hydrocarbons, causing air pollution, acid rain and smog, Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Meng-yu (蔡孟裕) told a news conference in Taipei.

To curb pollution from land, sea and airborne vehicles, the EPA has tightened regulations on fuel for ships and aircraft, as well as gasoline and diesel for road vehicles, he said.

From July, all ships must use fuel with a sulfur content of less than 0.5 percent, instead of the current 3.5 percent, Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 19 March, 2020/
By: Paula Chao

Everywhere you turn, there’s more bad news about COVID-19. So how do you keep your anxiety in check when it feels like the world’s on fire? Today we get some tips from Psychologist Michael Mullahy from the Community Services Center, and share our own experiences as reporters and consumers of the news.   [FULL  STORY]

Too little, too late?

The National Interest
Date: March 19, 2020
By: David Axe

Key Po6int: Taipei knows the balance of power has shifted. As a result, Taiwan is trying out all kinds of new ways to defend itself.

A new suicide drone appeared at the August 2019 edition of the biennial Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition in the island country’s capital.

This first appeared in 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest and is being reposted due to reader interest.

The unmanned aerial vehicle bears a strong resemblance to the small, hand-launched drones that are popular with U.S. forces. The other clearly draws inspiration from Israel’s Harpy anti-radar drone.
[FULL  STORY]

Tsai Ing-wen says WHO has failed in its role in leading global efforts

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/19
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan will share its approach to controlling the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) with the world, said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday (March 19), suggesting that the World Health Organization has been incompetent at preventing the pandemic.

Taiwan will “share its tactics in combating the coronavirus based on the spirit of openness and mutual assistance,” said Tsai, who called a press conference on Thursday afternoon. “Only when the international community fully cooperates can we ensure the whole world achieves victory in this battle,” she said, adding that the United Nations health agency has failed to successfully lead global efforts to contain the virus' spread.

Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who is a reputable epidemiologist, said at the press event that he had received requests for advice from notable research universities in the U.S. as well as from scholars in Japan, Hong Kong, and the U.K. over the last few weeks.

After Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Brent Christensen issued a joint statement on Wednesday (March 18), envisioning cooperation in fighting the coronavirus, Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, the country's top government research institute, said that same day it had convened with European Union representatives to discuss possible collaborations.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/19/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Several foreign representative offices in Taiwan have expressed support for Taiwan's strict border control measures, which took effect Thursday, saying they understand the need for such actions to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease.

Filip Grzegorzewski, head of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO), told CNA that similar measures have been taken in Europe to temporarily prohibit travelers from entering the 26 countries in the Schengen area.

"In order to stop the spread of the virus, we need to limit the movement of people," he said, when asked to comment on Taiwan's entry ban on almost all foreign nationals. "These actions must be coordinated across the globe to be effective."

Grzegorzewski also said Taiwan and the European Union are working together on aspects of the battle against COVID-19.    [FULL  STORY]