By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThere were no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that 12 patients have been discharged from hospital following treatment. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a news conference in Taipei that investigations into two cases had been closed, as the virus did not spread further. Of the nation’s 42 confirmed cases, one person has died and 12 people have been discharged following treatment, while the remaining patients are hospitalized in stable condition, the center said. “It would be best if we could avoid a local outbreak, but we will not make preparations under that assumption,” Chen said. “We must make preparations as though we are facing a more serious situation,” he said.

However, Taiwan has been on constant alert and ready to act on epidemics originating from China since the SARS outbreak in 2003, it says. The paper only includes information up to Feb. 24, when only 30 confirmed cases had been reported in Taiwan, which then had the 10th-highest number of cases among nations affected by the coronavirus, Chuang said. With 42 confirmed cases as of yesterday, Taiwan is 16th in number of confirmed cases among affected nations, demonstrating that its ranking has fallen amid a number of outbreaks worldwide, he said. “Understanding the action items that were implemented quickly in Taiwan and assessing the effectiveness of these actions in preventing a large-scale epidemic may be instructive for other countries,” the paper says. “Although we still face many challenges ahead as the battle against COVID-19 continues, we are grateful that the academic wrote the paper to allow the world to know the efforts being made in Taiwan,” Chuang said.

By Jason Pan / Staff reporterPolice on Tuesday captured a parolee after he escaped his home by cutting off his electronic tracking bracelet with an electric chainsaw and then allegedly committed a robbery in Taipei. At about 10pm on Monday, Ou Li-yuan (歐力源), 53, removed the tracking bracelet and drove a car to Taipei, where he allegedly robbed a betel nut stand of NT$6,000, police said. He was transferred yesterday to Taipei and placed in detention. Under questioning, Ou said he committed the robbery because he had gambling debts of about NT$100,000, police said. Wu was found unconscious and not breathing the next day, so Hsieh called an ambulance, but she was pronounced dead after being rushed to a local hospital.

Instead, the results signaled a remarkable comeback for Biden, who was projected to win at least nine, and possibly 10, of the nomination contests held across 14 states. They don’t call it Super Tuesday for nothing,” Biden told cheering fans in Los Angeles. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, won his home state of Vermont, and was projected to win Colorado and Utah. Well after midnight, the projection was made for Biden to win Texas, the second-largest state, and by the morning he had a narrow lead in Maine with three-quarters of the vote counted. That was bolstered by Biden winning all five other southern states on the ballot on Tuesday.

AFP, JERUSALEMIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday emerged victorious after the nation’s third election in a year, despite a looming corruption trial, dismaying the Palestinians who were angered by his hardline campaign pledges. That would mark the party’s best-ever result under Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and its first to be indicted in office. While there remains no guarantee that Netanyahu can form a coalition, he hailed Monday’s election as a “giant” success. Netanyahu campaigned on his tough position toward the Palestinians and on expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Party leader Avigdor Lieberman served as defense minister in a previous Netanyahu government and his support would easily put Likud over the crucial 61-seat line.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced the nation’s 42nd confirmed case of COVID-19, a woman in her 50s related to a patient who had been in the same hospital ward as an earlier case. The 42nd case is a relative of a patient in another room who had not recently traveled overseas, he said, adding that she sought treatment at a clinic for coughing and full-body fatigue on Feb. 23. After an extended contact investigation for the 34th case, which included people who were in the same hospital ward when she was hospitalized, the 42nd case was reported as a suspected infection and tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, he said. The cluster of coronavirus cases linked to the 34th case has expanded to seven people: her daughter and granddaughter, three nurses and a janitor at the hospital, and the 42nd case. All patients in the hospital ward have been moved to isolation wards, and the section has been temporarily closed and disinfected, Chen said.

The move risks further tit-for-tat measures from Beijing, as the world’s biggest economies continue a broader battle for global influence. The officials said the reductions were not expulsions, although about 60 employees would almost certainly need to leave the country. “Unlike foreign media organizations in China, these entities are not independent news organizations,” US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement after the officials briefed reporters. China currently allows about 100 US citizens in the country and has severely restricted the number of visas it issues to foreign reporters. That would match a Chinese requirement restricting foreign reporters to as little as 30 days before they must seek an extension.

By Sean Lin / Staff reporterSome items in the Cabinet’s NT$60 billion (US$1.99 billion) special budget to bail out sectors affected by COVID-19 are unnecessary, while others need to be better planned, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said yesterday. At least 25,000 restaurants and eateries nationwide already use food-delivery companies, while about 63 percent of retailers have already embraced e-commerce, she said. Stores and retailers should be allowed to engage in fair competition in a free market, and efforts to help digitize their services should be funded by the general budget, not a special budget, she added. Shen said that the proposal included in the special budget would be an improvement over the existing project, as the government believes that the timing is ideal for such efforts. However, Wang said that the government should use the special budget on more practical policies, such as boosting disease-prevention measures and disinfection at stores and markets, so that more people would be willing to shop there, despite the outbreak.

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday said that it plans to upgrade the travel industry amid a COVID-19 epidemic by offering professional training subsidies to people working in the sector. According to the plan, NT$500 million would be used to train travel industry workers, while NT$300 million would be spent on training people working in transportation businesses. The travel industry and transportation businesses are facing unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said. The bureau would entrust business associations in the travel industry and travel service workers’ unions to host training seminars for their members, Wang added. Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has agreed to increase subsidies for professional training if demand exceeds the estimates, Wang said.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterAlthough the peak flu season has ended, people should still take protective measures as 12 flu-related deaths were confirmed last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. In the past two weeks, the two gauges have been lower than in the same period over the past four years and the number of serious flu complications has dropped significantly, indicating that the peak flu season has ended, she said. Six cases of serious flu complications were reported last week, with the patients aged between 36 and 87, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said, adding that 12 flu-related deaths were confirmed last week, with the patients aged between 28 and 94. As of Monday, 965 serious flu complication cases, including 112 deaths, were reported for this flu season, which started in October last year, he said. About 43 percent were people aged 65 or older, followed by 32 percent aged 50 to 64, Lin said, adding that 98 percent of all cases did not get vaccinated this flu season.

By Sean Lin / Staff reporterTaiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) yesterday asked Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to offer monetary compensation to medical personnel who have to forgo overseas travel due to a travel ban amid a COVID-19 outbreak. Medical personnel live in fear of contracting the virus and have come under immense pressure from some members of the public, he said, adding that some couriers refuse to deliver food to hospitals. Su said that the government imposed the travel restrictions not because it wants medical personnel to work longer, but because 67 nations have been affected by the coronavirus. The government would reimburse medical personnel for any losses they incur as a result of the travel restrictions, including any fees that have to be forfeited, he said. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Finance and other concerned agencies would fine tune subsidy and compensation rules in the interests of medical personnel, he said.

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterStandard Chartered Bank Taiwan Ltd (渣打台灣銀行) yesterday trimmed its forecast for the nation’s GDP growth this year to 1.9 percent, from 2.2 percent it predicted in December last year, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Due to a deep connection with China, Taiwan was once predicted to suffer badly amid the trade dispute, but it turned out to be a major beneficiary,” Phoo said. However, if the outbreak lasts longer, its effects would be more serious, he said. “There is no substitute for consumer demand in China and the semi-finished goods made there. If they continue to be weak due to the virus crisis, we would all be affected negatively,” Phoo said.

Staff writer, with CNATaiwan aims to begin exporting pineapples to Australia by May, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday, after it announced a day earlier that Australia was now allowing such imports. Three pineapple farms in Pingtung County have registered to ship their fruit to Australia, the council said, adding that it has been in contact with Australian distributors. Discussions between the two nations on the issue started in 2015, when Taiwan applied for permission to export the fruit to Australia, the council said. Taiwan produces 430,000 tonnes of pineapples each year and it last year exported 50,000 tonnes worth about US$60 million. This year, about 4,954 tonnes of the fruit have been exported, with 4,693 tonnes shipped to China, 105 tonnes to Japan and 95 tonnes to Singapore, the council said.

By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe identification of a bacterium related to the retroconversion of sex steroids might lead to treatments for hormonal problems such as baldness and menopause, a team of researchers said yesterday. As emtA also exists in the anaerobic environment of the human gut, the retroconversion of estrogen might also happen in humans, he added. Specific hormones regulate the development and maintenance of male and female characteristics, and the team’s research signals potential new treatments for menopause, baldness and prostate cancers through probiotics, Chiang said. The team’s study, “Retroconversion of estrogens into androgens by bacteria via a cobalamin-mediated methylation,” was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Jan. 21. The journal published a commentary on the team’s article, titled “Anaerobic bacteria need their vitamin B12 to digest estrogen,” a week later.

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThree large events that were scheduled to be held at the Taipei Arena this month have been canceled and one might be postponed amid efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday. Huang made the announcement after hosting a COVID-19 response meeting at Taipei City Hall. Three commercial performances have been canceled and the fate of a performance by cellist Yo-Yo Ma (馬友友) is being discussed, she said. Separately yesterday, six Taipei City councilors said that they would temporarily stop attending gatherings in their electoral districts, in line with the Central Epidemic Command Center’s advice, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. They are New Power Party city councilors Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) and Huang Yu-fen (黃郁芬), Social Democratic Party city Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), and Democratic Progressive Party city councilors Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華).