A person walks past the entrance of a departure lounge at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Feb. 11. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, last week said that the infection source might be flight crew members of foreign airlines who stayed at the hotel, where many China Airlines crew members have been quarantined upon returning to Taiwan. The airlines would also be asked to evaluate whether they can allow crew members to report for duty online or separately, he added. Flight crew members should also be quarantined for 14 days, or they should be required to get vaccinated to have shorter quarantine periods, he said. Asked for comment, Chen Shih-chung said the quarantine policies can be further discussed with specialists, the CAA and the airlines.

CECC reports four more local casesHIGH-RISK GROUP: After the latest outbreak, family members of workers exposed to infection would from tomorrow be eligible for government-funded vaccinesBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four local COVID-19 cases: three family members of an infected worker at a quarantine hotel and a family member of an infected pilot. Chemical Corps members in hazmat suits yesterday assemble outside China Airlines Ltd’s headquarters in Taoyuan, ready to disinfect the area. She is the daughter of an infected pilot, and although she did not have any symptoms, her brother tested positive, so she was tested on Friday, he said. “The family members of workers exposed to infection — the top three priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination — will also be eligible for government-funded vaccination starting tomorrow,” he said. So far 1,225 pilots have received an antibody test, he said, adding that 1,212 tested negative, 12 tested positive and one person is awaiting their result.

Golf venues top taxpayer list in north as claw machines rule central TaiwanBy Huang Ching-chun and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAMost of the entertainment tax in northern Taiwan came from golf venues, while claw machines dominated central Taiwan, the Ministry of Finance said in a report. Revenue from golf venues made up 33 percent of the total entertainment tax collected in the north, while revenue from claw machine parlors accounted for nearly 30 percent in central Taiwan, the report said. Photo: Chen Feng-li, Taipei TimesThe number of taxable golf venues, KTV parlors, movie theaters, arcades and Internet cafes fell from 2011 to last year, the report said. The amount of entertainment tax collected from KTVs, arcades and Internet cafes fell during the period, while tax collected from people in performance-related careers grew, it showed. While those with subscriptions tended to subscribe to more than one service, a majority of respondents preferred subscription-free music, the survey said.

Notes from central Taiwan: Taiwan: Island of bossesWant to understand why Taiwan’s birth rate is not going to improve? The childcare subsidies that Premier Su Cheng-chang announced last week will do little to improve Taiwan’s worryingly low birth rate. Low birth rates are also an issue in South Korea and Japan. Further, Taiwanese bosses foster a work culture defined by the ideal of suffering, shaping Taiwan culture in entirely negative ways. Until the culture of Taiwan’s bosses changes, nothing will change.

Stephen M. Young On Taiwan: The snakes of TaiwanTaking advantage of my Taipei Times editors’ forbearance, I thought I would go with a change of pace by offering a few observations on an interesting nature topic, the many varieties of snakes in Taiwan. Toward that end, they collected exotic snakes from throughout East Asia for experimentation and development of serums to counter snake bites. As a young boy living on the edge of Kaohsiung, I encountered snakes on a regular basis. I remember one morning we found a small snake inside our house. In short, Taiwan has a rich and long history of snakes, yet another small window into the Taiwan I knew over the years.

CECC lists places patients visitedTRAVELING WHILE CONTAGIOUS: The highest risk of infection is indoors, especially in settings where people take off their masks to eat and drink, an expert warnedBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday posted a list of places visited by people who were recently diagnosed with COVID-19 while they were likely contagious, urging people who visited the sites at the same time to practice self-health management. On Monday, she took a Taoyuan Airport MRT train from Taipei Main Station to Taoyuan Airport Hotel Station from 6:55am to 7:50am, and from Airport Hotel Station to Kengkou Station (坑口站) from 5:40 to 5:55pm, Chen said. Chen said that a few locations and details have been added to the list of places visited by case No. The woman on Tuesday last week visited the Mr Sandwich restaurant in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) from 6:20am to 6:40am, and hypermarket RT-Mart’s Jhongli branch from 6:20pm to 6:35pm, he said. He stayed at the terminal from 1:30pm to 2pm and took a Taoyuan MRT train to Airport Hotel Station between 2pm and 2:20pm, Chen said.

DPP Taipei official resigns over allegationsNO SPECIAL TREATMENT: The Taipei chapter of the DPP has ‘zero tolerance for gangs,’ its chairman said, adding that Chao Chieh-yu’s party membership would be revokedBy Yang Hsin-hui, Peng Wan-hsin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writerAn official at the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei chapter on Friday said he would resign over allegations that his son had been implicated in a narcotics and fraud investigation. Chao Ying-kuang resigned as convener of the Taipei chapter’s review committee after earlier saying that his son should be expelled from the party. Democratic Progressive Party Taipei chapter review committee chairman Chao Ying-kuang in Taipei on Friday announces his decision to resign over his son Chao Chieh-yu’s alleged involvement in gang-related crimes. Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei TimesTaipei chapter head Enoch Wu (吳怡農) said he had no prior knowledge of the accusations against Chao Chieh-yu. Chao Chieh-yu’s party membership would likely be revoked tomorrow as party bylaws require providing three days of advance notice before expelling a member, he added.

Kaohsiung’s Tengjhih Forest park to reopen after 12-year hiatusBy Hsu Li-chuan / Staff reporterThe Tengjhih National Forest Recreation Area (藤枝森林遊樂區) in Kaohsiung is to reopen on Friday next week after a nearly 12-year hiatus. The forest park in the city’s Taoyuan District (桃源) has been closed since parts of the park were flooded and many roads were damaged during Typhoon Morakot in 2009. The park would be open to up to 500 visitors from 8am to 5pm daily, officials from the Pingtung Forest District Office said yesterday, adding that no accommodation would be provided. People stand on a walkway in the Tengjhih National Forest Recreation Area in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District yesterday. In other news, Tainan’s Baihe District Office yesterday opened its annual lotus festival, a series of events running until the end of July.

Legislature reduces taxes artists pay on sold worksBy Chien Hui-ju and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Legislative Yuan on Friday passed an amendment to reduce the taxes artists pay on income from auctioned art. Taxes would be calculated as 20 percent of 6 percent of the final transaction amount — which reduces the tax from the income of a sold artwork by 1.2 percent. Companies providing cultural services for government agencies would also be required to have business insurance under the amendment. The amendment brings Taiwan in line with international norms of separating taxation of cultural production from that of individual income, he said. “I hope that this amendment will keep art transactions in Taiwan, and attract large auction houses and other professionals to come here,” he said.

Fubon Financial board approves record dividendSUBSIDIARY ACTION: Fubon Life allocated its profit to fund its parent’s cash dividend distribution, although the Financial Supervisory Commission must approveBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterFubon Financial Holding Co’s (富邦金控) board of directors on Thursday approved a proposal to distribute a record cash dividend of NT$3 per share, topping proposals by local peers, data showed. The Fubon Life Insurance Co logo is pictured outside an office building in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: Wang Meng-lun, Taipei TimesIts board also approved the issuance of a NT$1 stock dividend, Fubon Financial said. It was the first time in three years that Fubon Life has allocated its profit to fund its parent’s cash dividend distribution, Fubon Financial said. That partly explains why Fubon Financial is able to propose a higher dividend than its peers.

Platform finds potential antiviral drugsTWO OUT OF MILLIONS: More work has to be done to evaluate the clinical effects of drugs identified through a newly developed platform, a research team member saidStaff writer, with CNAA Taiwanese-Malaysian research team has developed a platform to identify drugs that might inhibit COVID-19 infections, which screens massive databanks of existing medicines. The platform was developed to help scientists find drugs developed to treat other diseases that might prove efficacious against COVID-19, the developers yesterday told a news conference held by National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) in Taipei. The researchers developed the platform to detect modulators that affect the interaction of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurement technique. The platform could also be used to search for medicines for treatment of other infectious diseases or even cancer, Chang said. The Taiwanese team members are from NCKU, NYCU, Chang Gung University, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Changhua University of Education.

Inspection finds faucet with excessive leadStaff writer, with CNAOne out of 10 drinking water faucets failed a government safety inspection, as it was found that the device contained an excessive amount of lead, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) said on Thursday. BSMI section chief Wang Chun-chao (王俊超) said that that vendors have been ordered to remove the Lolat faucet from shelves. People who have the Lolat faucet installed should contact the manufacturer as soon as possible, Wang said. The BSMI has since 2017 conducted inspections of drinking water faucets, the bureau said. The packaging of drinking water faucets should feature a “lead free” label and contain information that water from the devices is drinkable, it said.

CECC reports three new cases connected to hotelLOOKING FOR ORIGIN: Hotel staff might have contracted COVID-19 after cleaning the rooms of pilots from foreign airlines, the head of the center saidBy Lin Hui-chin / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported seven new COVID-19 cases, including three domestic ones linked to Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. 1,120) had tested positive for the virus, while 412 people at the hotel were moved to government quarantine facilities and received virus tests. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesAmong them, three hotel employees, all Taiwanese, tested positive for the virus yesterday, Chen said. The government would no longer use Novotel to quarantine foreign pilots and instead has found two other Taoyuan hotels to accommodate them, he said. The four imported cases reported yesterday arrived from Egypt, India, Kazakhstan and the Philippines, the CECC said.

KMT caucus calls for resignation of envoy to JapanBy Chen Yun and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday demanded that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) remove Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) as the nation’s representative to Japan and issue a public apology over his statements about wastewater discharge. Japan on April 13 announced that it plans to release treated wastewater from the disabled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, despite protests from neighboring countries. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus hold placards while staging a protest in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday, demanding that President Tsai Ing-wen dismiss Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh. KMT lawmakers yesterday marched to the Presidential Office to voice their complaints. In response, the Presidential Office said that Hsieh has adequately conveyed the Taiwanese government’s concern regarding its plan to pump irradiated water out to sea in two years.

KMT lawmakers had ordered Hsieh to appear at the committee after he sparked controversy with remarks about Japan’s plans to discharge water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Cheng Li-wun, center, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The deadline was issued after consultations with the Ministry of Health and Welfare about how much time Hsieh would need, Liao said. Separately yesterday, the KMT legislative caucus accused Hsieh of avoiding lawmakers. A boat flies the Republic of China flag off Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan on Tuesday.