COVID-19: People provide free meals to frontline medical personnel to show gratitude
COVID-19: People provide free meals to frontline medical personnel to show gratitudeBy Weng Lu-huang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerPeople have over the past few days been offering free drinks, snacks and meals to frontline medical personnel to express their gratitude for their hard work amid a surge in local COVID-19 infections. Cardinal Tien Hospital department of public relations director Hsueh Kuei-wen (薛桂文) on Saturday thanked the public on behalf of the New Taipei City hospital, saying the medical personnel have been encouraged by the public support. New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和) has been hit hard by the outbreak, but the hospital personnel have remained at their posts, Hsueh said. Separately, Taiwanese companies have made donations to Taipei and New Taipei City governments as medical facilities there have borne the brunt of the outbreak. Hotai Group donated NT$12 million to New Taipei City and Pxmart Co donated NT$10 million through the city’s Web site (https://goodday.ntpc.gov.tw/pwntpc/).
Source:Taipei Times
May 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
Medigen touts deal with CDC over 5m COVID-19 vaccines
Medigen touts deal with CDC over 5m COVID-19 vaccinesBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is to purchase 5 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗), the Hsinchu-based firm said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The procurement agreement also includes a subsequent purchase of up to 5 million more doses, Medigen said. The company did not disclose further details, citing terms agreed with the CDC. A Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp worker handles the company’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine at a laboratory in the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park on Aug. 30 last year. Photo: CNAThe delivery of the drug, pending approval, would have a positive effect on the firm’s finances and operations, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
Another future for Taiwan’s energy
Another future for Taiwan’s energyInstead of debating current options, the nation should look at other options such as geothermal power and transnational energy gridsBy Michael Turton / Contributing reporterLast week saw two interesting developments in fossil fuels. These landmark developments remind us of the urgency of switching away from fossil fuels to a clean energy future. For Taiwan, geothermal power offers massive advantages over nuclear power. Ramping up geothermal technology and geothermal power investment would enable the island to develop a supercluster of firms that provide geothermal power systems, hardware, software, and power development services. What to do with all that excess energy, and the energy we could be getting from solar thermal and PV systems?
Source:Taipei Times
May 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC to review effectiveness of level 3 virus alert
COVID-19: CECC to review effectiveness of level 3 virus alert‘TENSE’ SITUATION: Taipei would today run drills, test simulated scenarios and draft contingency plans to prepare for lockdowns as part of a level 4 virus alertStaff writer, with CNAThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is this weekend reviewing the effectiveness of the level 3 COVID-19 alert and is to report its findings early this week, it said on Friday. The CECC would review the status of the outbreak in the coming days, and would likely report its conclusions to the public tomorrow or Tuesday, Chen said. Relatively few pedestrians and vehicles yesterday cross the normally busy Minquan W Road in Taipei, as restrictions imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak remain in effect. He made the remarks after Taipei on Friday announced that it would today hold drills to simulate a situation in which a level 4 alert was issued. “We have managed to flatten the curve in [outbreak hot spot] Wanhua District (萬華), but [the virus] is still slowly spreading in other districts,” he added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 29, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC reports 486 coronavirus cases
COVID-19: CECC reports 486 coronavirus casesSTILL SPREADING: The daily case counts have not improved much and many cases had visited markets, so people should be especially vigilant, the health minister saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 320 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections, 166 backlogged cases and 21 deaths. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung displays daily confirmed COVID-19 case figures at a news conference at the Central Epidemic Command Center in Taipei yesterday. Among them, 36 had visited Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), two were linked to a cluster involving hostess teahouses in Wanhua, 158 cases had clear infection sources, while 49 cases had an unclear connection to previous cases and 241 were under investigation. Chuang yesterday said that of the 21 deaths reported yesterday, 19 had underlying health conditions, and of 87 deaths reported since May 11, three had died at home. Asked why one person died on Sunday, but their test result was only reported yesterday, Chuang said that when a person dies of COVID-19, the hospital conducts preliminary contact tracing before reporting the case to the CECC.
Source:Taipei Times
May 29, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: More than 42,000 receive vaccinations on Friday
COVID-19: More than 42,000 receive vaccinations on FridayGOOD INTENTIONS: Several corporations and religious groups have contacted the CECC to help procure jabs, with one group saying it would donate 500,000 shotsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterMore than 42,000 people on Friday received a COVID-19 vaccine shot, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, adding that 500 local clinics would become vaccination centers by next month, while 1,000 would offer jabs by August. A traffic police officer receives a COVID-19 vaccination in Tainan on Friday, as 1,300 vaccine doses were made available for the city’s police officers and firefighters. The center has received several offers from corporations or religious groups interested in procuring vaccines for Taiwan, Chen said, adding that the CECC was grateful. “The central government would also be responsible for the overall planning and distribution of the vaccines,” Chen said. Fosun has partnered with BioNTech to market and distribute the vaccine in China, Macau and Hong Kong.
Source:Taipei Times
May 29, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: The godfather of Taiwan’s mangoes
In 1967, the Yujing Farmers Association reported a whopping NT$300 million gross revenue (NT$2 billion today) from Irwin mangoes alone. Cheng Han-chih displays in this 2013 photo a children’s book detailing his life and his efforts to cultivate the Irwin mango. Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei TimesCheng died on June 1, 2018, and his status as the “Father of Taiwan’s Irwin mangoes” was cemented a year later when the Tainan City government installed a plaque on a column in front of his former residence. Irwin mangoes were introduced to Taiwan from Florida in 1954. The commission tasked him with promoting the Irwin mango in 11 areas in southern Taiwan, including Yujing.
Source:Taipei Times
May 29, 2021 15:56 UTC
CECC reports 297 new domestic cases
CECC reports 297 new domestic casesEMPLOYEE HEALTH: The center said that it ‘agreed in principle’ to allow businesses to use rapid testing to check staff for COVID-19, and would draft recommendationsBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 297 new local COVID-19 cases, 258 backlogged cases and 19 deaths. The daily number of local cases over the past two weeks has remained consistent, showing no sign of declining, Chen said. Of the new local cases, 157 are male and 140 are female, with the onset of their symptoms between April 29 and Thursday, Chen said. Photo: CNAOf the 258 backlogged cases, 133 are male and 125 are female, with the onset of their symptoms from May 11 to Thursday, center data showed. Among them, 141 are from New Taipei City, 114 from Taipei, two from Changhua and one from Taoyuan, the data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
May 28, 2021 15:56 UTC
More locally produced children’s shows needed
More locally produced children’s shows neededCHILDREN’S RIGHTS: The Control Yuan called for legal changes to require TV stations to produce children’s programs to protect their right to communicationBy Hsieh Chun-lin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe government should push terrestrial and cable television stations to produce more children’s shows, among other measures, to promote locally made children’s programs, the Control Yuan said on Tuesday. Control Yuan members Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘), Fan Sun-lu (范巽綠) and Yeh ta-hua (葉大華) made the recommendations after conducting a probe into government efforts to produce and broadcast children’s shows. Domestically produced children’s programs accounted for 6.53 percent of all such programs on terrestrial channels, 2.29 percent on cable variety channels and 25.63 percent on cable children’s channels, it said. The NCC should spearhead a legislative effort to require terrestrial and cable channels based in Taiwan to produce children’s programs so as to increase their air time and share of domestic shows, it said. Since 2017, various ministries have provided more than NT$200 million (US$7.2 million) in subsidies and capital injections to Public Television Service (PTS) and privately owned media companies to make children’s programs, the report said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 28, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Outbreak upsets nation’s virus response calculations
COVID-19: Outbreak upsets nation’s virus response calculationsAP, TAIPEIFacing Taiwan’s largest COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic began and looking for rapid virus test kits, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) did what anyone might do: He searched for it online. A police officer, right, is pictured in personal protective equipment at a rapid COVID-19 screening station at New Taipei City’s Losheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium. Experts say that rapid tests are a critical tool in catching the virus in its early days. “You’re basically running against time.”With so few cases, Taiwan had been a bubble of normalcy for most of the pandemic. The government has not encouraged rapid tests, which are quicker and cheaper, but potentially less accurate.
Source:Taipei Times
May 28, 2021 15:56 UTC
Moderna vaccines touch down in Taoyuan
Moderna vaccines touch down in TaoyuanBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe government yesterday welcomed the arrival of 150,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the first batch of its order from the US pharmaceutical firm. The first batch of 150,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is unloaded at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. “We should provide Taiwan with vaccines as soon as possible,” the head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s policy group, Masahisa Sato, told a news briefing following the meeting. “Taiwan has many friends in Japan doing their best to help Taiwan in various ways. Local governments or businesses that intend to apply to import COVID-19 vaccines can ask pharmaceutical firms to submit vaccine rollout plans, instructions, storage and cooling logistics plans, manufacturing authorizations and documents that confirm a vaccine’s commercialization in other countries, the CECC said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 28, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Council plans additional NT$210bn for virus relief
COVID-19: Council plans additional NT$210bn for virus reliefStaff writer, with CNAThe National Development Council (NDC) yesterday detailed a plan to allocate an additional NT$210 billion (US$7.55 billion) budget to the government’s COVID-19 relief fund in the wake of an escalating community spread of the coronavirus in Taiwan. Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told a news conference after a weekly Cabinet meeting that the budget is expected to go toward helping the hardest-hit individuals and industries, as well as providing additional loans to people in need. National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin speaks at a news conference after a weekly Cabinet meeting in Taipei yesterday. The central bank would also offer additional loans of NT$100 billion to small and medium-sized enterprises, bringing the total to NT$400 billion, he said. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic slows down, it is possible that similar packages would again be launched, Lo added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 27, 2021 15:56 UTC
US not decided on vaccine rules: AIT
American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen delivers a virtual farewell speech in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times, from an AIT livestreamChristensen lauded Taiwan’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic and said that the nation’s health authorities would certainly contain the latest outbreak. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, seated center, speaks at a news conference at the Taipei City Epidemic Command Center yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced that 150,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses would be distributed to local governments today and frontline healthcare workers who are directly exposed to infected people would have priority. Chen on Tuesday announced that 2 million vaccine doses would arrive by the end of next month and 10 million doses, including locally produced ones, would be available by August.
Source:Taipei Times
May 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Research vessel panned for sailing amid outbreak
COVID-19: Research vessel panned for sailing amid outbreakRETURNED TO PORT: The vessel left Tainan before the nationwide COVID-19 alert was raised to level 3, and none of the crew showed symptoms, an institute saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe management of a research vessel has been accused of flouting government regulations by letting the ship sail out to sea amid a COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan. However, the management said the vessel had departed before the nationwide COVID-19 alert was raised to level 3. The R/V Legend is pictured moored at a harbor in an undated photograph. The R/V Legend surveyed the waters northeast of Taiwan, the ministry said in a statement. The Central Epidemic Command Center’s disease prevention guidelines are prioritized, Lin said, adding that the R/V Legend crew did not contravene any regulations.
Source:Taipei Times
May 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
US help needed to supply vaccines
Employing multiple approaches to purchase vaccines from the US should be prioritized, with possible support from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). On April 14 last year, an advertisement in the New York Times coined the slogan “Taiwan can help” amid a COVID-19 outbreak in the US. The AIT should also assist Taiwan to purchase vaccines from the US. In the meantime, Taiwan desperately needs help from all available sources, especially the AIT, to purchase vaccines from the US. As COVID-19 has spiked so quickly and pervasively in Taiwan, acquiring enough vaccines for all residents is a national mission that cannot be ignored.
Source:Taipei Times
May 26, 2021 15:56 UTC