People who visited crowded areas or activities over the Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend should start practicing 14 days of self-health management, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The large crowds at popular scenic areas and tourist spots over the four-day holiday that ended on Sunday triggered concerns about the risk of COVID-19 transmissions.
“In order to enhance the nation’s disease prevention capacity, we require people to make advance preparations for flexible working hours and working spaces,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
Photo: Chang Yi-chen, Taipei Times
“People who visited crowded places or activities should wear a mask, avoid unnecessary outings, strictly practice social distancing, avoid going to school or work if they develop any symptoms and seek medical attention or the call the 1922 hotline,” the minister said.
They should tell their doctor if they develop symptoms such as a fever, coughing, other respiratory problems, diarrhea, or a loss of the senses of smell or taste, he said.
It would be best if people under self-health management work at home, while students should tell their teachers about their travel history, and healthcare professionals should expand their testing criteria to include people who recently visited crowded sites who have symptoms that cannot be excluded from the possibility of COVID-19 infection, Chen added.
Photo: CNA
However, by “crowded places or activities” the center was not just referring to the 11 tourist spots that it listed in text messages on Saturday reminding the public to avoid crowded places and keep a proper social distance, Chen said.
If people visited other crowded places for a prolonged length of time over the long weekend, they should also practice self-health management, and if they cannot work at home, they should strictly practice the aforementioned measures, as well as social distancing, wearing a mask and frequently washing their hands, he added.
The government cannot provide a comprehensive definition of “crowded places” and it is up to every person to protect themselves, their coworkers and their family when making such decisions, he said.
Employers cannot punish employees who ask for sick leave if their recent travel history could have put them at risk and are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, he added.
While Chen said he was sorry that some store owners at tourists sites felt the center’s warnings had cost them business, the crowds at such sites had been far worse than the center had anticipated, and the cost to society from cluster infections would be greater than such losses.
The warnings had been necessary, he said.
The CECC would not ban all business activities, but it would adjust policies according to the current situation, with “disease prevention the priority,” he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats