Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday called on the public to “stay vigilant and prudent,” but added that there is “no need to be afraid” given a surge in domestic cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday reported 82 new local infections, a high for this year.
“The Omicron variant spreads very fast, so all of a sudden, most of the cases reported around the world are Omicron cases,” Su said during a visit to the CECC yesterday. “Its rapid spread is the variant’s characteristic, but most infected people have mild symptoms, or even no symptoms, which is also the case in Taiwan.”
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan via CNA
“We urge everyone to stay vigilant and prudent, but there is no need to be afraid,” he said.
While the government is doing its best to slow down the spread of the Omicron variant, Su said that people should know that scientific evidence suggests that vaccines boost protection against COVID-19 and reduce the symptoms of those who become infected.
Su urged those who are not fully vaccinated or are eligible for a booster shot to make an appointment as soon as possible so that they can increase protection for themselves, their families and society as a whole.
Photo: CNA
On Friday, Su said that while the government is doing its best to achieve “zero COVID” conditions, it does not exclude the possibility that Taiwan might have learn to “live with COVID-19.”
Separartely, former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), a public health specialist, wrote on Facebook: “We shouldn’t be afraid of living with the virus, and we must speed up in increasing full vaccination coverage.”
Before vaccines and antiviral drugs were developed, people could only rely on non-pharmaceutical interventions to keep the virus from spreading in communities, as the fatality rate of the disease was also higher, Chen said, adding that “zero COVID” was initially the goal.
As Omicron is more transmissible, but produces milder symptoms or no symptoms, getting vaccinated can induce the body’s humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, and increase protection from infection, severe illness, hospitalization or death, he said.
It is difficult for the world to eliminate such highly transmissible variants, so a “zero COVID” approach is impractical and people should be prepared to “live with” the virus, he said.
Rapid tests, vaccines and oral antivirals have been developed, and the goal for this phase of prevention should be arriving more rapidly at full vaccination coverage, he added.
In related news, Taiwan has purchased up to 10,000 courses of molnupiravir, an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 developed by US drugmaker Merck & Co.
While the CECC had said that the drugs would at the earliest arrive after the Lunar New Year holiday, sources yesterday said that the first delivery could arrive this morning.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said only that the center is keeping in close touch with the manufactuer regarding the matter.
Additional reporting by Lo Chi
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS