The number of spectators allowed at CPBL baseball games is to be raised to 2,000 from today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the seventh consecutive day.
While fans would not be able to bring their own snacks into stadiums, the center is allowing league-prepared lunchboxes, which would also contain disinfectant products, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy head of the center, said at the daily CECC media briefing in Taipei.
In a world first, the league on Friday last week opened stadiums to a maximum of 1,000 spectators per game under approval from the CECC.
Photo: Chen Chi-chu, Taipei Times
Fans are assigned staggered seats, required to wear masks and prohibited from eating, although water is allowed. Their temperatures are taken and their hands sprayed with disinfectant before they can enter the stadiums.
The CPBL was also the first professional baseball league in the world to start its new season, opening on April 12.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen reportedly suggested that the league change its name by dropping the “Chinese” in Chinese Professional Baseball League and using “Taiwan,” so that foreigners would not mistake it as a China-based entity.
Photo: Chiu Chih-ju, Taipei Times
The AIT respects that the league’s name has been used for 31 years, but suggested that it increase the use of “Taiwan” in its English-language promotional materials, the league said in a statement on Saturday last week.
As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 440 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — 349 imported infections, 55 local and 36 from the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla” — while its death toll from COVID-19 stood at seven, center data showed.
Among people with confirmed cases, 383 have been released from isolation, up from 375 on Wednesday, the center said.
No new cases were reported by the center yesterday, for a seventh straight day. It has been 32 days since the last confirmed local case.
Regarding long-distance fishing vessels expected to return to Taiwan late this month, the center had initially planned to allow crew members to disembark and forgo the 14-day isolation period if they had not had contact with a foreign port over the past 30 days.
However, after a meeting with the Fisheries Agency and some local governments a week or two ago, experts felt that the health of crew members could not be ensured, so a 14-day isolation period would still be required, Chen said.
Later yesterday, the center and the Fisheries Agency were scheduled to meet to discuss financial concerns expressed by fishing companies, he said.
The center is preparing a report on Taiwan’s experiences in fighting COVID-19, to be shared with the world, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.
The report is to include information on the center’s decisionmaking process, communications with the public, testing strategies and case investigations, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS