Starting today, eating and drinking in Taipei movie theaters is to be banned as the city government seeks to bolster its disease prevention measures.
Movie theaters may continue to sell food and beverages, but customers cannot consume them on the premises, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said.
The ban aims to ensure that people keep their masks on at all times when watching a movie, as they would be in close proximity to others inside a movie theater, he added.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The new measure does not mean the COVID-19 alert level was being raised and it only aims to adjust precautions at movie theaters, Taipei Department of Information and Tourism Commissioner Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) said.
“Customers can still buy snacks and beverages, and eat them outside the theater hall while waiting for the movie to start,” he said.
There have been recent cases with unknown infection sources, so the city has been looking at measures to improve public safety, he added.
Offenders would not be fined for now, Tsai said, calling on the public and theaters to cooperate.
Tsai said the city would later this week reopen its online vaccine appointment Web site to finish off a stock of 80,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
People can make appointments on the Web site on Friday and Saturday, he said, adding that vaccinations would begin on Monday.
Walk-in vaccination sites, such as the one in Taipei Railway Station, stopped work on Thursday for the Lunar New Year holiday, and would resume service on Monday next week, offering 600 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and the AstraZeneca vaccine each every day.
Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 17 domestic and 38 imported COVID-19 cases.
As 10 of the domestic cases tested positive during quarantine after being listed as close contacts of other confirmed cases, the spread of COVID-19 in Taiwan remains under control, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman.
Sixteen of the new local cases were linked to previously reported clusters in Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, the greater Taipei area and Yilan County, while the source of one case, who was confirmed in Kaohsiung, but had recently been to New Taipei City, is being investigated, the CECC said.
Eleven of the new cases were classified as breakthrough infections.
One had received one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while three, including one under the age of 10, have not been vaccinated.
The vaccination status of two cases is still being investigated, the CECC said.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old
SEA SEARCH: Nine crew members of a cargo ship had taken to the water after the vessel sunk off the southern coast, with a rescue effort under way, officials said The strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years yesterday killed three people and flooded parts of the nation’s second-biggest city, while rescuers were searching for nine sailors after their cargo ship sank in the storm. Typhoon Gaemi transformed streets in Kaohsiung into rivers, with some households flooded. Offices and schools were closed for the second consecutive day, with thousands of people evacuated. Three people died and 380 were injured due to strong winds and torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi, the Central Emergency Response Center said. The typhoon made landfall in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) at midnight yesterday and departed Taiwan