The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has set up a winter protection emergency response task force as temperatures continue to fall across the nation, while the Taipei City Hospital urged people to be aware of emotional changes caused by the weather.
The department said that it established the task force on Saturday and that its personnel are working in shifts responding to calls at Taipei City Hall (02-2722-6497) between 10am and 10pm.
People can also call a 24-hour hotline (1999) to report emergencies, it said.
The city’s special care services for homeless and disadvantaged people were activated on Monday last week, and the temporary shelters are to be kept open as long as temperatures remain below 12°C, Taipei Department of Social Welfare Commissioner Hsu Li-min (許立民) said.
Meanwhile, the Taipei City Hospital said that the human body consumes more energy to keep warm when the weather is cold, causing the immune system to become less effective in fighting germs and viruses.
As a result, people are more likely to fall ill and being ill can make people feel depressed or disturbed, it said.
Moreover, social interactions might be reduced on rainy days as people are less willing to go out, but social interaction is an effective method to prevent depression, so prolonged cold and rainy weather might make people feel anxious, frustrated or upset, it added.
The lack of sunlight during winter has the greatest effect on people’s emotions, as exposure to sunlight triggers the production of serotonin, also known as the feel-good hormone, while its absence causes the body to secrete melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep, the hospital said.
It urged people to keep warm and try to motivate themselves to go outdoors and engage in social activities even on rainy days, while trying to get as much sunlight as possible during the winter to avoid seasonal affective disorder, also known as winter depression.
In related news, the Central Weather Bureau has forecast low temperatures nationwide for yesterday and today, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, adding that it on Jan. 25 informed local governments to be prepared to activate special services to help homeless and disadvantaged people when the temperature drops below 10°C.
As of yesterday, local governments nationwide have distributed 16,950 hot meals and 9,384 items of warm clothing or other winter necessities, and provided shelter to 1,584 people, the ministry said.
Local governments have also increased their visits to elderly people living alone to check on them and remind them to keep warm, the ministry added.
People with hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and hypertension have increased risk of sustaining a heart attack or stroke in cold weather, so they should especially keep warm, it said.
The ministry also urged people to call local social welfare departments or its social welfare consultation hotline (1957) if they see people who need help.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS