The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced that the “big three links” are to be suspended, effective tomorrow, due to the threat of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The decision came a day after the council announced that the “small three links” are to be suspended, also starting tomorrow.
The “small three links” are the ferry services connecting Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China’s Fujian Province, while the “big three links” refers to direct cross-strait maritime services between Taiwan proper and Chinese cities.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Ocean transportation for the “big three links” includes the Natchan Rera (麗娜輪) the Hai Xia Hao (海峽號) and the Cosco Star (中遠之星), the council said.
Suspending links was a preventive measure and their resumption would depend on how the situation evolves, MAC Deputy Minister Lee Li-jane (李麗珍) said.
The number of people using direct cross-strait maritime services last year was 250,000, or 11 percent of all people traveling between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait via ship, the council said, adding that the other 89 percent used the “small three links.”
The Central Epidemic Command Center said that China’s Guangdong Province was also a primary epidemic area, along with Hubei Province’s Wuhan, where the virus purportedly originated.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), the center’s head, told a news conference that quarantine measures would be extended to people who arrive in Taiwan from the two provinces.
People who have visited Hubei or Guangdong within 14 days of arriving in Taiwan would be tested for 2019-nCoV and would only be allowed to leave quarantine after two tests show that they do not have the virus.
People who have visited the secondary epidemic area — other areas in China — would be required to remain under quarantine at home for 14 days, and if they develop a fever or respiratory symptoms, would be tested at a hospital before being allowed to return to home quarantine.
The 17th confirmed case of 2019-nCoV infection was reported in Taiwan yesterday.
Chen said the new case is a man in his 20s — the son of a married couple who on Thursday were confirmed to have the virus.
The man was interviewed after his parents were confirmed to be infected.
He had a cough while he was traveling in Italy on Jan. 27, but the symptoms had diminished, Chen said.
The family was in Italy from Jan. 22 to Friday last week and transited in Hong Kong on their way back to Taiwan on Saturday last week, he said. The son was hospitalized on Friday.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said it was very likely that the family was infected during a flight.
The son did not have a fever and he reported having worn a mask to work after returning to Taiwan, but his 11 coworkers would be placed in home quarantine, while the local health department would survey the people he had direct contact with after returning, Chuang said.
Sixty-four cases of severe pneumonia with novel pathogens were reported on Friday, bringing the total to 1,399 people with symptoms, including the 17 confirmed to have 2019-nCoV, while 1,258 people who had symptoms have been ruled out as carriers of the virus, the CECC said, adding that the remainder are under quarantine and are being tested.
The first person in Taiwan confirmed to have 2019-nCoV has been discharged from hospital, while the other 16 are in stable condition, the CECC said, adding that as of yesterday, 172 people who have had direct contact with them are being monitored for symptoms.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS