Radio Taiwan International
Date: 27 February, 2020
By}: Paula Chao

The government has upgraded the Central Epidemic Command Center to Level 1, which is the highest level. That’s to better coordinate efforts and resources to contain the new coronavirus COVID-19.

Taiwan has 32 confirmed infections, including one death.

Premier Su Tseng-chang said Thursday that Taiwan has only seen sporadic cases of community infection, all which have been household infections. But he said it’s better to err on the side of caution.

The premier has directed every government agency to set up a COVID-19 task force, which will be supervised by each agency’s deputy head.    [FULL  STORY]

Business Insider
Date: Feb 27, 2020
By: Eleanor Goldberg

• The novel coronavirus has spread to at least 48 countries and has infected more than 81,000 people. 
• To protect from spreading further, Taiwan is requiring travelers arriving from areas outside of China, Hong Kong, and Macau to undergo a 14-day quarantine at home.
• KeyKey Hung, a mother of 5-year-old twins, recently completed a two-week quarantine in Taiwan after traveling there from her home in Hong Kong.
• Hung said keeping her active children busy was a challenge, but it was also an opportunity to spend quality time together and to learn to be more patient.

For two weeks, KeyKey Hung couldn't leave the house. She couldn't go out to buy groceries or take a walk. For her, not being able to exercise was particularly inconvenient. But that wasn't her biggest challenge.

Hung, a stay-at-home mom, has 5-year-old twins; a boy and a girl. They're active and curious and not used to being cooped up. They're not even used to residing in Taiwan.

The Hung family lives in Hong Kong. They left home at the beginning of the month amid growing concerns around the coronavirus outbreak that has now spread to at least 48 countries, infected more than 81,000 people, and killed more than 2,760 people.    [FULL  STO-RY]

Taiwan working on rapid test for Wuhan coronavirus based on SARS antibodies that would only take 10 minutes

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/27
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) is planning on using SARS antibodies to develop a rapid test to detect the Wuhan coronavirus which would take only around 10 minutes.

Huey-Kang Sytwu (司徒惠康), vice president of the NHRI, was cited by the Liberty Times as saying that at present, the principle behind developing a rapid screening reagent is to detect the virus using antibodies, such as the case with influenza. He said this generally involves taking a swab from the nose, placing it in a vial containing viral transport media, and dripping the contents into the sample well for testing.

These sorts of tests generally take 10 to 15 minutes to yield a result and have an accuracy level of about 50 to 60 percent. Sytwu said that in 2003 the NHRI and the National Defense Medical Center used the SARS virus to produce antibodies in mice.

Recently, it was found that the antibodies to SARS have the same antigens as COVID-19. Scientists at the NHRI believe that the SARS antibodies could be used to develop a new COVID-19 rapid screening test.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/27/2020
By: Chen Chih-chung, Chen Wei-ting and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) An Indonesian caregiver working in Taiwan illegally, who was confirmed as the country's 32nd COVID-19 coronavirus case Wednesday, frequently used public transport in the greater Taipei area and passed through Taipei Main Station several times from Feb. 16-24, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Thursday.

The woman, in her 30s, temporarily provided care to a northern Taiwan man in his 80s — the country's 27th confirmed COVID-19 case — in the hospital from Feb. 11-16, according to the CECC.

The woman was confirmed as the sixth case associated with a family cluster of the virus also responsible for cases 27-31.

The woman traveled on public transport around the greater Taipei area, using buses and the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system from Feb. 16 to Feb. 24 when she also attended events in public places, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC.
[FULL  STORY]

DRIVERLESS: Autonomous vehicles are a solution to a shortage of nighttime bus drivers, officials said, with tests being conducted on Xinyi’s dedicated bus lanes

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 28, 2020
By: Tsai Ya-hua and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Taipei Department of Transportation yesterday announced that it would start road tests for

autonomous buses in May and allow city residents to take part in the trial services beginning in September.

The city government is looking to automated buses as a solution to the shortage of nighttime public vehicle drivers, officials from the transportation and information technology departments told a news conference.

Following the signing of a letter of intent between the city government and Turing Drive Co last year, the company submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs its “trial project for uncrewed vehicles with innovative technology.”    [FULL  STORY]

In the latest live music-related scam to hit Asia, prosecutors in Taipei have indicted a woman for posing as the promoter for shows by Andy Lau and BTS

IQ Magazine
Date: 26 Feb 2020
By: Anna Grace

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has reportedly charged a woman with fraud and forgery, for posing as a promoter for concerts by K-Pop groups, Mandopop star Andy Lau and Singaporean musician JJ Lin.

According to the Taipei Times, Chao Chung-ling is accused of defrauding six people who invested TWD 4.84 million (US$159,000) in her business after she claimed she was promoting a concert by Lau in Taiwan last year.

The individual in question, reportedly the proprietor of Taipei-based agency FD Model Co, had previously received TWD 4m ($132,000) from separate investors for a concert tour by K-pop band VIXX.

The report also states that Chao sought an investment of TWD 800,000 ($26,000) in January last year, again claiming she was putting on an Andy Lau show in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

30 out of 48 flights between Taiwan and South Korea canceled Wednesday Feb. 26

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/26
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Beginning from the morning of Thursday (Feb. 27), all passengers arriving in Taiwan from South Korea will have to self-quarantine at home as a result of the rapidly expanding Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in that country.

The number of confirmed virus patients in South Korea crossed the 1,000-mark Wednesday (Feb. 26), including about a dozen deaths. In Taiwan, the total number of cases reached 32, including one death.

Numerous travelers hurried back to Taiwan from South Korea to arrive ahead of the new measures, though on Wednesday alone 30 out of the 48 flights originally scheduled between the two countries were canceled, CNA reported. The cancellations are affecting many popular destinations, such as the capital Seoul, Busan, and the island of Jeju.

According to official data, a total of 38,000 passengers passed through Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday, amounting to only 30 percent of last year’s daily average of 133,000.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/26/2020
By: Chen Wei-ting and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) An Indonesian woman who was working in the country illegally has been confirmed as Taiwan's 32nd COVID-19 coronavirus case, after being hired to care for an elderly man in the hospital who was later diagnosed with the virus, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

At a press conference, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the woman, who is in her 30s, was confirmed Wednesday as the sixth case associated with a family cluster of the virus also responsible for cases 27-31.

According to Chen, the woman worked from Feb. 11-16 as a hospital caregiver for an octogenarian northern Taiwan man, who was diagnosed Sunday as Taiwan's 27th COVID-19 case.

Because the woman was working illegally, authorities were initially unable to locate her for testing on Monday, the CECC said.    [FULL  STORY]

MORE WORK TO DO: The database only includes information on cases taken to court and does not include details of other victims who were executed without trial

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 27, 2020
By: Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) presided over 3,195 military court cases during the White Terror era,

the most on record, the Transitional Justice Commission said yesterday as the Taiwan Transitional Justice Database went online.

The database has records and photographs of victims of political persecution during the White Terror era, as well as the names and ranks of perpetrators, in the hope of enlightening the public about how such trials were conducted, the commission said.

It allows analysis using certain subsets of data, such as ethnicity, gender, place of residence and charge, it said.

Then-chief of general staff Chou Chih-jou (周至柔) presided over 2,506 cases, while then-navy commander Kuei Yung-ching (桂永清) was in charge of 1,241 cases, the database shows.
[FULL  STORY]