Dancing dragons, massive mice, and gargantuan lollipops featured at New Taipei Metropolitan Park

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/08
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The annual New Taipei Lantern Festival kicked off at the New Taipei Metropolitan Park in Sanchong District on Friday (Feb. 7), attracting thousands of spectators to witness the specially designed illuminative artworks.

Led by New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the organizers celebrated the event opening with a 97-second light show. Representatives from the Japanese city of Aomori were present, while the Taiwanese dance groups the Rakuten Girls and the Luxy Boyz electrified the venue with their performances.

Hou told the media that the New Taipei Lantern Festival attracts millions of visitors every year and that high-quality preventive measures will be implemented throughout the 24-day celebration to preclude the spread of the coronavirus. He hopes that the recent viral outbreak will not affect Taiwanese citizens’ desire to visit and that festivalgoers will not hesitate to try out different games and food stands.

Director of New Taipei City Department of Civil Affairs, Ko Ching-chung (柯慶忠), pointed out that popular Taiwanese landmarks, including the Wulai Waterfall, the Pingxi Old Street, the Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf, as well as the Hong Lu Di Temple, were integrated into this year's art installations. He also highlighted a path decorated with giant sunflower lanterns and in-class art designs by middle and high school students, reported the Liberty Times.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/08/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) Another Taiwanese has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) after a recent trip overseas, bringing the total number of confirmed cases of the respiratory virus in Taiwan to 17, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday.

The latest confirmed case is that of a man in his 20s, the son of a couple who were confirmed to be infected with 2019-nCoV two days earlier after the family transited through Hong Kong from Taiwan Jan. 22 for a vacation in Italy, said Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), deputy-director of Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control.

The young man developed a cough on Jan. 27 in Italy, while his parents also started to show symptoms on Jan. 26 and Jan. 28, respectively, Chuang said.

It is believed that the family caught the virus while on one of their flights, but it was not clear on which segment of their trip they were infected, Chuang said.

When the son returned to work in Taiwan, he claimed to have worn face masks, but 11 of his colleagues will still be asked to self-quarantine themselves at home, Chuang said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 07 February, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Members of the US House of Representatives have told the ICAO that its exclusion of Taiwan threatens the fight against the novel coronavirus. The ICAO is the International Civil Aviation Organization, which oversees aviation standards and practices.

The US Congress members stated their opposition to the ICAO’s blocking of Taiwanese social media accounts.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Fre Asia
Date: 2020-02-07

The democratic island of Taiwan has called on China to prioritize the most vulnerable of its nationals when arranging their evacuation from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which is at the center of the coronavirus epidemic.

President Tsai Ing-wen said Chinese officials had excluded some of its most vulnerable nationals from the first evacuation flight to leave Wuhan since the outbreak left the city paralyzed last month.

She also hit out at China's insistence that the World Health Organization (WHO) refer to Taiwan, which has never been part of the People's Republic of China, nor been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, as "Taipei and environs."

"We in Taiwan are on the front line of epidemic prevention and deserve the respect of the international community," Tsai said. "In particular, our participation in the WHO is the key to a very important network for international epidemic prevention work."    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwn News
Date: 2020/02/07
By:  Central News Agency

1Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) said Friday it is working "night and day" to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) but said a market-ready product would likely come too late for use in the current outbreak.

The government-funded research body said in a statement that it was simultaneously proceeding with research into four types of vaccines, one of which could produce results within two to three months.

Following the announcement, NHRI Chairman Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) said researchers are aiming to create a vaccine that produces a high level of immunity against the coronavirus in rats within two months, before beginning clinical trials within six months.

Liao Ching-len (廖經倫), the director of the NHRI's Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, said in an interview, however, that as genome sequencing of the virus had only recently been completed, it was still too early to discuss how effective a possible vaccine might be.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/07/2020
By: William Yen and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) Buying face masks has been a challenge for many people in Taiwan during the first two days of a new government rationing program, and members of the international community told CNA Friday they were having similar problems.

Demand for face masks has surged amid fears of the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and shortages have forced the government to ration mask purchases to two per person every seven days at pharmacies contracted by the national health insurance (NHI) system.

Many Taiwanese have been forced to wait in lines to get their hands on two of the 200 face masks made available at each pharmacy per day or have found that the pharmacies have sold out, and foreign nationals have faced similar problems.

Perla Lupo, a factory worker from the Philippines, said it was very difficult to buy face masks where she is in Guanyin District in Taoyuan because she and her colleagues need to be at work when the masks are being sold.    [FULL  STORY]

SHOWING PROMISE:NTU  Hospital said a US drugmaker would donate doses of an antiviral medication, but it still requires government approval before it could be used

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 08, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan has asked the US-based drugmaker Gilead Sciences to reserve the nation doses of its

new drug remdesivir, amid reports that the antiviral medication might be effective in treating the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said on Thursday.

Chen confirmed the request, and said that the drug — which is not yet licensed or approved in any nation — still requires government approval before it could be used.

Developed for use against the Ebola virus, remdesivir has garnered attention as a possible treatment for 2019-nCoV, following positive results from US and Chinese doctors who have administered the drug in clinical trials.

On Friday last week, Gilead said it was working with Chinese authorities to test the drug on coronavirus patients.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date5: 06 February, 2020
By: Jake Chen

Residents of Taiwan’s offshore Penghu Islands are showing off “prosperity turtles” in local temples in celebration of the upcoming Lantern Festival.

These turtles are made of foods such as rice and fruit, shaped to form a turtle to pray for an auspicious year. Temples and families often make their turtles as big as they can as a way of showing the sincerity of their wishes. The turtles are often split up and eaten afterwards, distributed among the crowds who come to see them.

This year, some of Penghu’s prosperity turtles are being made with unusual materials and reaching tremendous sizes. The most notable ones this year include a turtle made with eight kilograms of gold and a turtle made with rice that weighs over fourteen tons.    [FULL  STORY]

All future evacuees to be quarantined before boarding planes from China to return to Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Thursday (Feb. 6) announced four rules for flights evacuating Taiwan citizens from China due to the coronavirus outbreak, The Storm Media reported.

Hsu Cheng-wen (徐正文), head of a private group that helped coordinate the first evacuation flight, admitted to media on Wednesday that three of the evacuees were not on the list provided by Taiwan to Chinese authorities for evacuation. This included the man who tested positive on Tuesday in Taiwan's latest case,

The report said the 247 evacuees included some Chinese spouses of Taiwanese citizens, which Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said did not comply with the regulations set by the government.

The report quoted cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka as saying the premier required that in future four demands must be met for evacuation flights from China. The first demand was the priority was to evacuate the elderly, children, those who are on short-term business trips, or who have been on medication for a long time.    [FULL  STORY]