CECC addresses US control of remdesivir supplies, says Taiwan’s stockpile sufficient to treat 55 patients

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/03
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday (July 3) that the country currently possesses 333 vials of remdesivir and will save them for emergency coronavirus treatment.

During a regular press conference to give Taiwan's pandemic update, CECC Spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) pointed out that the island nation's remdesivir stockpile is enough to treat 55 patients in serious or critical condition. He noted that the procurement of the antiviral drug is not urgent at the moment since Taiwan does not have patients in need of such treatment, reported CNA.

In response to global concerns that the U.S. has hoarded most of the world's remdesivir supplies, Chuang said the government will continue to negotiate with the Western superpower for a potential sale. Meanwhile, hospitals in Taiwan have other medications that can be relied on, he added.

Though it is not clear if remdesivir can improve survival rates, the drug has shown efficacy in shortening recovery time for severely ill coronavirus patients. It is also the first antiviral drug to be recommended by health officials in the European Union (EU) and approved by Japan.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/03/2020
By Kuo Chih-hsuan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) A tropical plant conservation group in Taiwan is pushing ahead with an ambitious program aimed at saving the island's indigenous orchids by reviving the native moth orchid species and allowing them to thrive in the forests where they originated.

The goal of the "Bringing Moth Orchids Back Home" program is to have every moth orchid species in the world boom at their native breeding sites, Chen Chun-ming (陳俊銘), a senior collection manager at the Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center (KBCC) in Pingtung County, told CNA in a recent interview.

The program, launched two years ago, aims to save moth orchid species in Taiwan.

Taiwan, like many places around the world, have seen its moth orchid species gradually disappear from the wild because they have been "mercilessly picked" for their beauty, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

MORE FAKE MONEY: Officials said they seized fake US$100 bills that contained the same misspelling as US$11.04 million in bills seized in December last year

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 04, 2020
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Authorities have detained three people for their alleged involvement in counterfeiting US currency, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday.

Two men, surnamed Lin (林) and Huang (黃), and a woman surnamed Tsai (蔡) in November 2018 allegedly sold fake US$100 bills to a man surnamed Chen (陳), who did business in Taiwan and Mongolia, CIB official Lai Yao-tsung (賴耀宗) said.

“Chen had heard of offers to exchange money at good rates, reportedly at a 75 percent discount for US currency. Thinking of profiting from the transaction, he bought from Tsai and Huang 3,000 US$100 bills for NT$6.5 million [US$219,528 at the current exchange rate] in cash,” Lai said.

Chen allegedly used his own counterfeit bill detector to screen the money at a face-to-face transaction, but a bank in Mongolia later detected the money as fake, so Chen returned to Taiwan with the counterfeit bills, the CIB said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 02 July, 2020
By: Paula Chao

[Working hard, or hardly working?]

If you’re working remotely due to the pandemic, this episode of Taiwan Insider is a must-watch! We’ll have some life hacks for you, and an inside look at how we managed to create six episodes of our show without ever being in the same room. 

We’ll also hear from Daphne Lee at The News Lens, who says Taiwan may have missed the opportunity to restructure the workplace environment.    [FULL  STORY]

Over 50% of respondents indicate support for Taiwan’s former vice premier, only 14% for KMT choice

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/02
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A recent poll on Kaohsiung's mayoral by-election showed that the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) is ahead of his Kuomintang (KMT) opponent Li Mei-jhen (李眉蓁) by 40 percentage points.

According to poll results released by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research (TISR) on Wednesday (July 1), 54.6 percent of the respondents indicated support for Chen, and only 14.4 percent said they would vote for Li. Meanwhile, 4 percent of those surveyed preferred Wu Yi-cheng (吳益政), who is representing the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and 13.3 percent said they would not exercise their voting rights.

When asked which candidate is more suitable for the position, 62.2 percent of the respondents selected Chen, while 20.6 percent and 14.1 percent chose Li and Wu, respectively. The poll also found that 87.6 percent of Kaohsiung residents who voted against former mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) in the recall election would support Chen in filling the vacancy.

The by-election is scheduled to take place on Aug. 15.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/02/2020
By: Chen Wei-ting and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Thursday slightly relaxed its regulations on the timeframe for COVID-19 testing of foreign nationals traveling to Taiwan.

The CECC had stipulated that foreign travelers to Taiwan must show a negative COVID-19 test that had been conducted no more than three days before their departure date, but on Thursday, it changed the timeframe to three business days.

The change was made because some foreign nationals whose flights were close to or on a weekend had reported difficulty obtaining the COVID-19 test within the three-day timeframe, CECC official Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said at a press conference.

He said the CECC had already informed the airlines of the slight change to its regulations in that regard.    [FULL  STORY]

COVID-19: The patient is a man in his 50s who had been working in Mexico. People on the same flight are either self-isolating at home or practicing self-health management

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 03, 2020
By: Lin Hui-chin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced one new confirmed case

of COVID-19, a man in his 50s who returned from Mexico the previous day, while identifying 23 people who have had close contact with the person.

The man said he had been working in Mexico since early February, and between June 17 and Monday last week, he had migraine, coughing, weakness in the limbs and a fever, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) told a news briefing in Taipei.

While the man had visited local medical facilities in Mexico, he had not been tested for COVID-19, Lo said.

The man said that he had felt better after seeking treatment, Lo added.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 July, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The labor ministry says that the number of Taiwanese workers facing shortened working hours or unpaid leave has reached 31,816.

The number of Taiwanese workers facing shortened working hours or unpaid leave has reached 31,816. That’s according to new figures released by the labor ministry on Wednesday.

The labor ministry says that the wholesale, retail, transport, storage, hospitality, and food service industries have reported the greatest increase in underemployed workers during the last quarter.
[FULL  STORY]

'The repatriation will reconnect these skulls with their home soil, the history and the local community'

edinburghlive
Date: 1 JUL 2020
By: Joe Smith

The Taiwanese Government have spoken out after it emerged Edinburgh University has four skulls in storage belonging to indigenous islanders.

The Taipei Representative Office said it would be a “significant” moment for the country if the university returned the skulls – as it would be the first time human remains had been returned as cultural relics.

“The repatriation will reconnect these skulls with their home soil, the history and the local community,” explained a government official.

The skulls were taken as gruesome trophies by Japanese soldiers during a revenge attack in 1874 and found their way to Edinburgh where they were left to gather dust in a university warehouse.    [FULL  STORY]