The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday recalled all nonessential staff from India as the COVID-19 outbreak in the nation continues to deteriorate.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India is to remain open, but only staffed by core personnel, the ministry said.
Representative to India Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱) has expressed his resolution to remain in his post, but if core personnel become infected, immunized personnel would be sent to provide assistance, it said.
All personnel had been asked to work from home after some within the center tested positive for COVID-19, the ministry said, adding that 10 employees had tested positive as of yesterday, about one-fifth of the workforce.
If any employees require repatriation for medical treatment, the ministry said it would arrange for their return through health insurance provider CARPS International.
Personnel experiencing minor symptoms would remain in India and consult with doctors by videoconference, it said.
Nonessential staff and their families have been recalled until the situation in the nation stabilizes, the ministry said.
An emergency response team has been formed to respond to the situation in India, where an average of nearly 400,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported daily over the past week.
Taiwanese in India have been encouraged to return before the end of the month, the ministry said.
However, due to stricter measures being implemented to contain an outbreak within China Airlines (華航), Taiwanese have been advised to book flights with Japanese airlines and transfer in Tokyo, it said.
Ger and senior staff are to maintain close communication with New Delhi and provide assistance to Taiwanese in India, the ministry said, adding that Taiwan would continue to send material assistance to the stricken nation.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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