A nationwide COVID-19 alert is to be lowered from level 3 to 2 on Tuesday, but strict border controls would remain, the government said yesterday.
The level 3 alert in place since May 19 is to end on Monday, with a level 2 alert in place from Tuesday until Aug. 9, the Executive Yuan said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told a news conference in Taipei that over the next two weeks, people should still wear masks at all times outdoors, except while eating or drinking, and practice social distancing.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
The maximum number of people allowed for indoor gatherings would increase from four to 50, while the maximum for outdoor gatherings would increase from nine to 100, Chen said, adding that tour groups could contain up to 50 people.
Funerals and wedding banquets can be held with the same crowd limits, but newlyweds at banquets should not make tableside toasts, he said.
Businesses and public spaces must still record visitors’ contact information, while enforcing social distancing of 1.5m indoors and 1m outdoors, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Epidemic Command Center
Places that can reopen if they have proper disease prevention measures in place include kindergartens, cram schools, bowling alleys, infant care centers, dementia care facilities, certain fishing ports and religious sites, he said.
Art and science museums must have visitors register before arriving and cannot allow groups of more than 49 people, Chen said.
Artists and crew at performance halls can remove their masks while performing, as long as they submit a negative virus test result obtained three to seven days before the performance, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Audience members must be seated at least 3m from the stage, while individual spectators should be properly separated, he added.
A ban on visits to patients at hospitals remains in effect, but the CECC would today announce whether it would allow visits to patients or residents at long-term care facilities, he said.
Places that remain closed under the level 2 alert include community colleges, swimming pools and leisure businesses, such as dance halls, nightclubs, KTVs, gaming halls and mahjong parlors, he said.
Asked if companies should still ask employees to work from home, Chen said it is not mandatory, but expressed the hope that the practice would be maintained.
While the CECC on Monday last week allowed restaurants to offer dine-in services, most local governments did not follow suit.
Asked about dine-in restrictions, Chen said that the CECC’s guidelines are only for reference.
The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would maintain a ban on dine-in services, only allowing restaurants to provide takeout services.
Chen said that the CECC would still maintain strict border controls.
Although it might adjust measures for foreign visitors who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, such a plan has not yet been finalized, he said.
The new measures are subject to change, Chen said, adding that people should still remain vigilant amid the pandemic.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect