Details about a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for domestic use are to be announced tomorrow, the Central Epidemic Command Center said yesterday, as it also announced that airport testing for inbound travelers would be expanded to more flights.
After an increasing number of local infections were reported in the past two weeks, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said they would push for the use of a vaccine passport or certificate at some public venues in the cities.
Ko said that a vaccine certificate could be used in a variety of places, such as restaurants and sports events.
Photo: CNA
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said details about an official digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for domestic use would be announced tomorrow and it would be available for download on Friday.
He said the certificate would meet the three requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation — minimum exposure of personal data, the right to data portability and the right to be forgotten.
The Taipei City Government has also proposed implementing a vaccine passport, but the center is still discussing with the city government how to minimize exposure of users’ personal data, Chen said.
Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei Times
Chen also announced that airport COVID-19 testing for inbound travelers on long-haul flights — which requires them to undergo a polymerase chain reaction test after arrival and to wait for the test results before being allowed to depart — would be expanded to some short-haul flights.
On Monday, 17 people among 285 passengers tested positive, or 5.99 percent, he said, adding that yesterday morning three people among 105 passengers tested positive, or 2.86 percent.
As the airport testing has been running smoothly, and as two workers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport had tested positive in the past few days, the center would discuss with the airport expanding the policy gradually to short-haul flights, starting with flights from South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, Chen said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
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
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