Four areas yesterday announced a ban on on-site dining at food and beverage establishments to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as Pingtung and Yilan counties, said that the ban would be in effect from today until Friday.
Dining at all food and beverage shops in Taipei, including breakfast shops, restaurants, coffee shops, department store food courts and night markets, would be banned, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) told a news conference after the city’s disease prevention meeting.
Photo: Cheng Ming-hsiang, Taipei Times
Only take-out orders and deliveries would be allowed, he added.
The tougher measure is being imposed as the COVID-19 situation has not eased as hoped, he said.
While the positivity rate at rapid COVID-19 testing sites in the city had reached a low of 4.6 percent on Wednesday last week, it climbed to 8.5 percent on Saturday, he said.
From a clinical point of view, taking a mask off to eat and talk with others at the same table is highly risky with regards to virus transmission, he said.
While rapid testing sites have so far only been opened in areas in and around Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), the Taipei Department of Health has been instructed to release a list of hospitals in the city’s 12 administrative districts where rapid testing can be done, he said.
Meanwhile, the Taipei MRT rail system yesterday closed some entrances and exits at Ximen Station and Longshan Temple Station in Wanhua.
Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (台北捷運公司) said that to cooperate with disease prevention efforts, it has closed Exits 1, 2 and 3 at Ximen Station, and Exit 3 at Longshan Temple Station.
The company said that the aim was to make it easier for station personnel to carry out checks and contact tracing.
Its transport volume has dropped significantly and measures such as the registration of real contact information have been adopted, it said, adding that travelers gathering in groups because of the exit closures should not be an issue.
Additional reporting by Chiu Shu-yu
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