THE NEW NORMAL? The nation as of last month had 23.6 million people — up 10,899 people from a year earlier, but down 3,362 from January, statistics showed

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 15, 2020
By: Huang Hsin-po and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The nation’s population could be entering negative growth, the Ministry of the Interior has said, citing the 26,046 people born and 30,884 who died in the first two months of this year.

Last month, there were 13,536 births, or about one birth every 3.1 minutes, and 16,211 deaths, or one death every 2.6 minutes, statistics released on Tuesday showed.

The nation as of last month had 23.6 million people — up 10,899 people from a year earlier, but down 3,362 from January, the statistics showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 12 March, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Foreign ministry official Chen Yung-shao says that European politicians and media outlet have

reacted approvingly to Taiwan's handling of COVID-19.

European politicians and media outlets have expressed admiration for Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the word from Chen Yung-shao, deputy head of the foreign ministry’s Department of European Affairs, on Thursday.

As many other countries struggle to contain the disease, Taiwan has so far managed to keep the number of confirmed cases under 50.    [FULL  STORY]

Retired Taiwanese actress Lin Ching-hsia.PHOTO: WONG MAN LING/WEIBO

The Straits Times
Date: March 13, 2020

BEIJING • Retired Taiwanese actress Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia has joined the long line of celebrities oing their part to fight the coronavirus.

According to China Central Television, the 65-year-old donated 2,000 pairs of medical gloves to the Tongji Hospital in Wuhan last month.

The Chinese city of Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak, which has spread to more than 100 countries.

Lin also sent a handwritten letter to encourage the medical workers.    [FULL  STORY]

Father pleads with Taiwanese motorists to make way for ambulance carrying critically ill son

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/12
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A father of a young man suffering from heart disease on Wednesday (March 11) pleaded with Taiwanese motorists to give way for an ambulance as his son needs urgent treatment.

Unlike in many Western countries where drivers normally pull to the side of the road at the sight and sound of an ambulance, many Taiwanese drivers tend to ignore the muted sirens of such emergency vehicles. On his Facebook page on Wednesday, the father of a teenager suffering from heart disease posted a message pleading with the public to make way for an ambulance.

In his post, the man, surnamed Liao (廖), wrote that his son would be transported by ambulance from the Yunlin Branch of the National Taiwan University Hospital at 9 a.m. on Thursday (March 12) via National freeway 1 to Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Because his son is in critical condition, Liao said he hoped that motorists on that section of the highway would make way for the ambulance so that he can safely arrive at the hospital as soon as possible.

Liao told ETtoday that his son is 16 years old and is in his first year of high school. He said that his son has congenital heart disease and has undergone "countless operations" since childhood.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:\ 03/12/2020
By: Ku Chuan, Chang Ming-hsuan and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Over 88,000 people were able to pre-order their weekly ration of surgical face masks online as of Thursday afternoon after a new mask-purchasing system went online earlier in the day, although the system temporarily crashed due to overload, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that as of 2 p.m., 88,000 people had placed orders via either the government website https://emask.taiwan.gov.tw/msk/index.jsp, or via a National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) mobile app.

Chen said many users complained about being unable to link to the system after it first went online on 9 a.m., but the situation was quickly resolved.

To use the online ordering system, consumers either need to have access to a card reader or need to download the NHIA app.    [FULL  STORY]

ECONOMIC INCENTIVES: The Executive Yuan plans to give each ROC citizen NT$800 worth of coupons that could be used for shopping and seeing movies or live shows

Radio Taiwan International
Date: Mar 13, 2020
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Executive Yuan is mulling additional coupons to revitalize sectors hit by COVID-19 that do not require people to stay at a hotel or bed-and-breakfast (B&B) before they can use the coupons, and the budget for the coupons would exceed the NT$2.3 billion (US$76.29 million) already earmarked, Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs had budgeted NT$2 billion for the coupons, which was raised to NT$2.3 billion after the Ministry of Culture’s plans were included.

Under the Executive Yuan’s current plan, each Republic of China (ROC) citizen would receive NT$800 worth of coupons when they stay at a hotel or B&B, which can be used at night markets, other markets, shopping districts and cultural and art venues, Kung said.

Asked by reporters whether the government plans to issue coupons that could be used without having to present proof of a hotel stay, as previous tourism-industry booster coupons linked to hotel and B&B stays did, Kung said that the possibility was under consideration.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 11 March, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

The foreign ministry is calling for dual Taiwanese-Italian nationals living in Italy to comply with the lockdown regulations that went into force Tuesday.

The country has been especially hard hit by the global COVID-19 outbreak, recording 9,200 cases and 460 deaths as of Tuesday. The country has been shut down in an effort to contain the outbreak.

The foreign ministry says that Taiwanese visitors to Italy may leave the country, but that Taiwanese people who are legal residents in Italy or hold Italian nationality must remain in the country and follow local laws. The ministry says only those who relinquish their residency status will be allowed to leave Italy.    [FULL  STORY]

‘REAL FRIENDS’: Taiwan’s leadership in several issues reaffirms the need to expand its participation in the global community, Brent Christensen said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 12, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

Taiwan is a leader in infectious disease prevention, disaster relief and other areas, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said yesterday, urging Taiwanese to take pride in the nation.

Christensen made the remarks while opening the touring exhibition “US-Taiwan Relations Since 1979” at the National Taipei University (NTPU) library in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽).

It is the first time that the exhibition, which has been on a nationwide tour since 2018, is visiting a university campus. It features photographs, documents and videos highlighting the AIT’s role in supporting US-Taiwan relations since the US’ Taiwan Relations Act took effect in 1979.

Opening the exhibition along with NTPU president Lee Cheng-chai (李承嘉), Christensen said in his keynote speech that the AIT’s theme this year is the US and Taiwan being “real friends” making “real progress.”    [FULL  STORY]

Business Wire
Date: March 11, 2020

HSINCHU, Taiwan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ultrasound is widely used for conducting physical examinations, and plans are underway for expanding its application to the treatment of Parkinson's disease, dementia, and diabetes. A research team at National Tsing Hua University led by Associate Professor Yu-Chun Lin of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Professor Chih-kuang Yeh of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences has successfully improved the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease in mice by injecting cellular proteins that are highly sensitive to ultrasound waves into the deep brain region and afterwards using ultrasound to activate the neuron cells.

Their innovative research has been published in the January issue of Nano Letters, and their non-invasive treatment has already been patented in Taiwan and the US.

Lin has long sought to find a safe, non-invasive way to control cell activity. Although light waves are safe, they can only penetrate to a depth of about 0.2 cm; magnetic waves can penetrate deep, but lack precision. By contrast, ultrasonic waves penetrate to a depth of up to 15 cm, and can be focused on the affected part. Thus, the challenge was how to make cells respond to ultrasound.

Lin said that almost all mammals have a kind of high-frequency auditory pressure protein known as prestin. However, the prestin in the human body has little sensitivity to ultrasound. By contrast, the prestin in dolphins, whales, and sonar bats is highly sensitive to ultra-high frequency sound waves. By comparing their prestin protein sequences, Lin found that they all have a special amino acid, which he colonized into the cells of mice to modify their prestin proteins. This resulted in an immediate tenfold increase in the cells’ ability to sense ultrasound.
[FULL  STORY]