ADDING TASKS: The National Space Organization would receive a new headquarters, from where it would coordinate Taiwan’s space policy, minister Wu Tsung-tsong said
Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) yesterday unveiled a plan to launch up to 20 satellites in the next 10 years, doubling the government’s original target set in 2019. Taiwan is to focus on space science and technology following the legislature passing the Space Development Act (太空發展法) last year, Wu told a news conference ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei. The ministry is seeking to facilitate the growth of the indigenous space industry by linking businesses with space research, which the country has been conducting for the past 30 years, he said. Taiwan has since 2019 made strides in developing a domestic low-Earth orbit satellites industry, he said. The nation is seeking to launch a Triton satellite this year, as it was scheduled in the National Space Science and Technology Development Long-term Program, he said, adding that the program includes 10 launches from 2019 to 2028. The ministry is planning to prop up the sector by setting more ambitious goals and extending the program to 2030, Wu said. The expansion is to focus on remote sensing and low-Earth orbit satellites, he said, denying speculation that officials are weighing whether to include cubesats. For this fiscal year, the ministry added NT$1.1 billion (US$39.65 million) to the program’s regular funding of NT$2.96 billion, he said, adding that the ministry would ask for more additional funding next year. A larger budget would enable the space industry to increase staff and resources, and expand from technology research to operating satellites for commercial and domestic use, he said. A new headquarters for the National Space Organization would be set up in Hsinchu City, and the agency would be turned into a public foundation run by the Executive Yuan, he said, adding that this would enable it to coordinate the nation’s space
More Taiwanese are working from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but more than 70 percent of companies want all of their employees back in the office, a 104 Job Bank survey showed. Seventy-one percent of enterprises preferred all their employees to be in the office, while 29 percent preferred a hybrid work schedule that combined on-site and remote work, the survey showed. Only 0.3 percent of firms backed remote-work-only arrangements, it showed. Most firms in favor of a hybrid model preferred three days in the office and two days of working from home, the survey showed. However, 65 percent of office workers preferred a hybrid work schedule, while 30 percent said they wanted to work in the office and only 5 percent wanted to work exclusively from home, it showed. The online poll, conducted last month and this month, collected 3,419 valid questionnaires from enterprises and 3,390 from job bank members. The margin of error was 2.5 to 3.5 percentage points for the employer poll and 2.4 to 2.9 percentage points for the employee poll. Based on the results, a later poll found that 81 percent of employers would not be willing to change work models even if their employees preferred working from home some of the time. While office workers prefer working from home some of the time, they are willing to adapt to their employers’ requirements that they travel to the office for work, 104 Job Bank head human resources officer Weber Chung (鍾文雄) said. After Taiwan raised its COVID-19 alert to level 3 on May 19 last year, following a surge in domestically transmitted cases, 58.1 percent of companies introduced work-from-home programs, the job bank said, citing a survey released in June last year. At the time, 37.7 percent of office workers said they had done some work remotely, the survey showed. Before Taiwan recorded its first
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday urged people who are planning to work in Cambodia to exercise caution after Taiwanese were reportedly coerced into engaging in fraudulent activity in the country. More than 10 such cases have been reported, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei, adding that the victims had been forced to work illegally after they had been held against their will and had their passports taken away. The ministry said it received the reports through its representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, adding that it is working to ensure that the individuals involved can return to Taiwan. They had been lured to take up work in Cambodia by criminal groups that promised them high salaries and favorable treatment, Ou said. However, when they arrived, their freedom of movement was restricted, Ou said, adding that those who resisted had been beaten. Some of them negotiated with their captors about potential conditions of their release, and were asked to pay for air tickets, accommodation and other expenses, totaling US$10,000 to US$30,000, Ou said. “If you are going to Cambodia for work, we urge you to be vigilant. Look into the company that is hiring you and make sure you understand the details of the work you will be asked to do,” she said. “Make sure you will not break the law, or worse, endangering your personal safety.” As the nation’s representative office in Phnom Penh was closed in 1997, Taiwanese in need of consular assistance in Cambodia are asked to contact the office in Ho Chi Minh City, she added.
A surgeon on Tuesday called on people to avoid eating too much fatty food, after he removed nearly 5,000 gallstones from a patient. Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital Division of General Surgery director Yu Cheng-chan (余政展) said he was astonished that there were so many, adding that removing 10 or 20 gallstones at one time was a considerable amount. Gallstones are dangerous, as it only takes one falling into the bile duct to cause conditions such as pancreatitis and peritonitis, he said. Yu’s patient said his eating habits developed in childhood, as his mother, fearing that he would not eat enough, bought fried food for him to eat with dinner every evening. As he got older, he would eat lots of meat and fried food, and coworkers often gave him their leftovers when ordering buckets of fried snacks, he said. Early last year, he began experiencing occasional bloating and back pain that he thought was caused by poor sleep, he said. He changed his pillow numerous times, but his symptoms worsened, he said, adding that two weeks of prescription medication also had no effect. After experiencing diarrhea for nearly three months, an ultrasound showed that his gallbladder was twice its expected size and packed with stones, he said. He was also shocked when seeing a jar full of his gallstones after surgery, he said, adding that in retrospect he also thinks that he ate too much greasy food. Many people mistake upper abdomen pain for stomach pain, but it could have its source in the liver, gallbladder or pancreas, Yu said. Gallstones are the most common ailment, but the symptoms are often mistaken for a lingering stomachache, he added. The 43-year-old man’s dietary habits and weight created a “perfect storm” for gallstones, which caused his gallbladder to expand to about 10cm across, Yu said. “No wonder he was uncomfortable,” he added. The gallbladder
CONTINUED RISK: Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Ann Kao said that without a videoconferencing system, legislators in quarantine cannot review budgets or vote
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators yesterday called on the Legislative Yuan to launch a videoconference system for legislators in isolation or quarantine, and urged the government to purchase more oral antiviral drugs for treating COVID-19. TPP Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) and New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) yesterday held a joint news conference calling on the Legislative Yuan to speed up its digital transformation with videoconferencing for legislative meetings, as the risk of infection continues with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. In May last year, the legislature tested a videoconferencing system, but it had not been tested, updated or officially used since then, neither had legislators received a standard for using it, Kao said. Five TPP legislators might have been placed in isolation, she said, adding that the TPP was to hold its year-end banquet at the Grand Hotel Taipei (圓山飯店) on the day after the chef tested positive for COVID-19. Without a videoconferencing system, legislators who are placed in isolation cannot review the government budgets or vote, Kao said. Many governmental departments or companies have adopted ways to work from home to reduce the risk of infection clusters in the workplace, she said, adding that the legislature last month passed the third reading of an amendment to the Company Act (公司法) allowing shareholders’ meetings to be held via videoconferencing in the case of disaster or special circumstances. City and county councils, courts and schools have held drills on how to hold meetings, court sessions or classes online in the event that the COVID-19 alert is raised to level 3, but the legislature still lacks such a measure, Chiu said, urging it to speed up finalizing the videoconferencing system. Separately yesterday, TPP legislators Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) and Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) held a news conference urging the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) to work closely with local
TRACK OBSTRUCTION: TRA Director-General Du Wei said that railway tracks should always be clear of objects — any impediment would not be tolerated
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday said that it would seek restitution from a contractor working on the agency’s safety enhancement program for the improper handling of construction materials that led to them obstructing a railway line. The incident occurred at 10:06am on Tuesday as a commuter train headed from Changhua County to Taitung County passed through Pingtung County and a construction site along the line, the agency said. The site, where a railway crossing is being constructed near Pingtung County’s Fangliao Station, is about 4.8m from the track, the agency said. The contractor was hoisting steel, which accidentally caused a steel pipe stacked by the side of the track to rub against the bottom air spring of the commuter train, it said. The incident did not harm anyone, or damage the train or the track, the agency said, adding that the train stopped, but moved on after about 13 minutes. TRA Director-General Du Wei (杜微) said: “Railway tracks should be clear of any foreign object, even a piece of paper. We will not tolerate such an incident.” “The contractor clearly breached safety protocols and affected the agency’s operations. We will definitely seek compensation and will take this record into consideration when we receive bids on new public tenders,” Du added. The incident occurred because the contractor placed a pile of steel pipes too close to the tracks, Du said, adding that the hoisting of the construction materials hit the pile and caused a steel pipe to enter the track. The construction personnel, including the section chief and the supervising engineer, would be punished, Du said. On April 2 last year, an eastbound Taroko Express derailed at the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Huailen County. That incident, which killed 49 people and injured more than 200, was caused by a crane truck that rolled onto the tracks from a
Taiwanese legislators have been led by Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) in holding tasting events to promote the sale of Lithuanian rum, as the first batch has arrived. State-run Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTL) first delivered some of the Propeller brand dark rum made by the Lithuania-based MV Group Production to the Legislative Yuan so that You could hold tasting events for officials and the media. TTL has said that the rum is to be sold from Tuesday next week, in time for the Lunar New Year. “Lithuania is not afraid to stand up to China’s threats and show strong support for Taiwan, after Beijing used its ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy with economic sanctions to bully several democratic nations,” You said. “Because we are so touched by Lithuania’s determination to protect freedom and democracy, our lawmakers will take concrete action to support Lithuania,” he added. You said that in his role as legislative speaker, he ordered the first batch of rum from TTL to show that Taiwanese “are in solidarity with Lithuania, standing united in our effort to fight China’s bullying and authoritarian ways.” At tasting events on Tuesday and yesterday, You called the Propeller dark rum “Democracy Rum.” You’s staff mixed sips of the rum with lemon juice and cola — as “rum punch” — in small plastic cups to show the nation one of the popular ways that Democracy Rum can be enjoyed with family and friends during the holiday. Members of the media who tasted the rum punch said that it has a pleasant, sweet taste, and went down smoothly. TTL officials said that they were notified on Dec. 18 by the Ministry of Finance and Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) that a batch of Lithuanian rum scheduled to arrive in China on Dec. 29 could face hurdles with customs because China had reportedly in
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday vowed to stage a comeback in the US as it unveiled a plaque for its planned liaison office in Washington, which it said is a sign of its resolve to advance its ties with the US. The plaque, whose design was authorized by KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and the party, is of great importance to the KMT and would be sent to the office for its inauguration, KMT Department of International Affairs director Alexander Huang (黃介正) told a news conference. The liaison office would be on Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects Capitol Hill and the White House, he said. Huang on Oct. 21 last year said the office would allow those in the US to hear voices from Taiwan besides that of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, adding that if the KMT were to return to power, the office would serve the interests of both countries. KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Ling Tao (凌濤) displayed a Republic of China flag, as well as a KMT flag that flew at the joint Washington office of the KMT and the People First Party from 2004 to 2008. The joint office was closed after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office. The two flags would be flown again at the office following its reopening, Ling said, adding that they symbolize the heritage of the KMT’s relations with the US. “The KMT is set to return to Washington with its pragmatic foreign policy to rebuild two-way communication channels,” he said. Upon becoming KMT chairperson in October, Chu promised to reopen the office, saying that it would restore mutual trust and two-way communication. There have been no clues as to who is to serve as the KMT’s representative to Washington. Chu is reportedly planning to attend the office’s inauguration in the spring as part of a wider
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday began his stopover in Los Angeles on his way to Honduras with an online meeting with US lawmakers that touched on bilateral trade and China. Lai, who is leading a delegation to attend the inauguration ceremony of Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro today, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at about 6:35am on Tuesday, the Presidential Office said. Lai, joined by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), brought up bilateral trade relations and the threats posed by China, said Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋), who is the office’s deputy secretary-general and a member of the delegation. Lee did not provide further details on what was discussed, but said US Senator Edward Markey, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Asia-Pacific, and US Representative Mark Takano, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, were among the 17 US lawmakers who attended the meeting. Following the meeting, US Representative John Curtis of Utah wrote on social media that he “was honored to lead the first meeting with the VP of Taiwan on his trip to the US.” “Utah and Taiwan have many ties, ties I have worked to strengthen during my time in Congress,” he said. The meeting was the first of seven videoconferences that Lai was to have with US politicians and representatives of Taiwanese communities during his 24-hour stopover in Los Angeles, the office said. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Lai was greeted by American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty, who boarded the charter plane to welcome the delegation. The institute represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Lai then went to Hilton Los Angeles and Universal City Hotel, where he was greeted by Honduran Consul-General Maria Fernanda Rivera Fiallos, as well as dozens of Taiwanese
Talks on removing a ban on agricultural imports from Fukushima and four other Japanese prefectures have entered the final stages, with an announcement possible before the Lunar New Year if everything proceeds smoothly, an official with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The Presidential Office has yet to formally set a timetable for removing the ban, implemented after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011. However, the official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that a decision is possible as soon as tomorrow. Asked about the timeline at an event in New Taipei City yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) only said that Taiwan and China are the only two nations that maintain the ban. The government would “proactively address the issue” on the basis of scientific evidence, international standards and the prioritization of public health, he said. Taiwan is a trade-oriented nation that wants to do business with the world and participate in high-level international trade groups, Su said. It must show its value as a trading partner and willingness to abide by international norms, he said. An unnamed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official said that most party legislators support removing the ban, while some advocate resolving the issue as fast as possible. This does not mean the government is rushing, as it is still carefully evaluating the issue, they said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators during budget negotiations at the legislature yesterday also pressed Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) for information on the decision. Wu said he “does not have any information,” as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not responsible for food imports. He criticized the legislators’ use of the term “nuclear food,” saying that any food that makes it into Taiwan must pass inspections and is therefore safe. Speaking to reporters before the negotiations, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the ban must be
Taiwan was ranked 25th in the Corruption Perception Index for last year, up three spots from its ranking a year earlier, a report published on Monday by Transparency International showed. The Germany-based nonprofit group said Taiwan scored 68 out of 100 — the nation’s highest ranking since the index launched in 1995 — placing it in the 86th percentile. The index, which measures the perceived level of corruption in a nation’s public sector according to experts and businesspeople, ranks 180 countries and territories, the group said. The countries perceived to be the least corrupt last year were Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, while Afghanistan, North Korea and Yemen were perceived to be the most corrupt. Taiwan was tied with Bhutan for being the sixth least corrupt country in the Asia Pacific region, behind Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand, the group said. The average score for the region’s 31 countries was 45, it said. China scored 45 and was ranked 66th in the index, while North Korea scored 16 and placed 174th, the group said. The two countries underperformed in relation to other states and territories in the Asia Pacific region, it added. The Ministry of Justice’s Agency Against Corruption on Tuesday said that Taiwan’s ranking reflects the strides that have been made in combating public sector corruption, which affects the business environment. Taiwan has dedicated significant time and energy to drafting effective anti-corruption laws, including a bill for protecting whistle-blowers, as well as a bill for transparency in public contracts and government projects, it said.
A lesbian Taiwanese and Singaporean couple show their wedding rings after registering their marriage at the Household Registration Office of Taipei’s Songshan District yesterday. Despite Taiwan’s legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019, same-sex couples involving a partner from a nation or area in which same-sex marriage is illegal, such as Singapore, were previously unable to get married. Having won an appeal at the Taipei High Administrative Court on Nov. 25 last year, the couple finally got married yesterday.
A person dressed as Pokemon character Pikachu takes part in a promotion at MRT Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Station yesterday, as a Pokemon-themed train is to start operating on the Bannan Line today.
SLIGHTS: Beijing intends to display pro-unification messages and prominently feature Taiwanese volunteers in its propaganda videos, an official said
Taiwanese officials are poised to boycott next month’s Beijing Winter Olympics, an official with knowledge of the matter said yesterday, citing concerns that China would slight Taiwan during the Games. This year’s Winter Olympics are scheduled to open on Friday next week amid a diplomatic boycott by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Lithuania, New Zealand, the UK and the US in response to China’s human rights abuses against Uighurs in Xinjiang and crackdowns on democracy advocates in Hong Kong. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that a Cabinet-appointed task force has determined that Taiwan’s delegation would abstain from the opening and closing ceremonies, and limit its role to looking after the nation’s athletes. The Ministry of Education is to announce the makeup of Taiwan’s team this week, the official said. The task force, created by the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Education and the Mainland Affairs Council, was concerned that the presence of a delegation would give legitimacy to diplomatic slights that Beijing is sure to make against Taiwan, the official said. The Winter Games is the most significant platform for China to push its propaganda that Taiwan is a part of its sovereign territory, they said. China has already made known that the order of national teams in the opening ceremony would be determined by a system based on the number and sequence of strokes in the characters that make up their name in simplified Chinese, the official said. Taiwanese athletes would precede athletes from Hong Kong, which is intended to give credence to Beijing’s claims that Taiwan is Chinese territory, they said. Taiwan would also be referred to as “Chinese Taipei” in the ceremonies as part of Beijing’s campaign to denigrate the nation on the international stage, they added. The nation’s intelligence community has said that Beijing intends to display pro-unification messages, refer to Taiwan as
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) speech at the opening ceremony of the Chiang Ching-kuo Presidential Library and the Ching-kuo Chi-hai Cultural Park on Saturday defeated the purpose of the government’s transitional justice policy and contradicted her past remarks on the issue, the New Power Party (NPP) caucus said yesterday. In her speech, Tsai recognized former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) as a steadfast defender of Taiwan. “While some remember the economic development and the sense of security that he helped foster and facilitate, others regard him as part of the authoritarian regime,” Tsai said. NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said Tsai should not have downplayed the hurt and pain brought by the authoritarian regime. “Taiwan does not become the country we know today because it is against communism. Rather, it is sustained through its continual support for freedom and democracy, which was realized through the sacrifices of many. As such, there is no room for compromise when it comes to authoritarianism,” Chiu told a news conference in Taipei. The park and presidential library are run by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, Chiu said, adding that one of the foundation’s board members is Academia Sinica’s Laurance Lau (劉遵義), who served as president of Chinese University of Hong Kong and was a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The CPPCC is a political advisory body of the Chinese government and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party’s “united front” system, he said. “Nearly 40 percent of the foundation’s funding comes from the Taiwanese government. Is it appropriate for such an organization to appoint someone who was a CPPCC member?” Chiu asked. Despite the government funding, the foundation’s budget is not subject to review by the Legislative Yuan, as the government owns less than a 50 percent stake in the foundation, he said. Fu Jen Catholic
SAFE AND SECURE: Sixteen percent of people said they were ‘extremely satisfied’ with their quality of life as the pandemic causes more people to count their blessings
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) enjoys the most support among all political parties, while support for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has fallen 4 percentage points from last month, the equivalent of nearly 800,000 voters, this month’s Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation poll showed yesterday. Apart from the KMT’s losses, the result was little changed from last month, shifting only 1.5 percentage points at most, the foundation said. The DPP garnered 30.5 percent support, followed by the KMT at 15.6 percent, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) at 12.5 percent, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party at 2.3 percent, the New Power Party at 2.1 percent and other parties at 1.9 percent. That represented a 1.3 percentage point slip for the DPP and a less than 1 percentage point difference for the rest. However, the largest number of respondents, 33.8 percent, said that they did not support any party, up 3.2 percentage points from last month. The KMT’s poor showing is a direct result of its losses in the Dec. 18 referendums, Taichung by-election and the failed recall of independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), the foundation said. Considering that support for the KMT has long hovered at about 20 percent, the loss represents a significant blow to the party, as it now only enjoys a 3.1 percentage point lead over the TPP, it said. It is the party’s third-lowest rating since July 2016, only slightly higher than in February and May 2020, it added. On the government’s performance, nearly half of respondents said they “essentially support” its handling of domestic affairs, about 8.4 percentage points higher than the 41 percent of respondents who did not approve. About 43 percent gave Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) more than 60 points out of 100 in his three years in office, while 20 percent gave him 60 and 31 percent gave him less than 60 for an
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has selected a location on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, for its liaison office in the US, a KMT official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The KMT has chosen 601 Pennsylvania Avenue for its liaison office, which provides a view of the Capitol, KMT deputy director of international affairs Eric Huang (黃裕鈞) said. The KMT sent Huang to Washington in November last year to help re-establish its liaison office so that the party could rebuild its ties with the US. A KMT preparatory group has been stationed in the office, Huang said, adding that after completing the registration process in accordance with the US Foreign Agents Registration Act, the office would begin formal operations. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) is scheduled to visit the US to unveil a plaque at the building to mark the opening of the office, Huang said. Chu’s US visit is likely to take place in the spring when the COVID-19 situation is expected to have improved, he said. Often called “America’s Main Street,” Pennsylvania Avenue connects the corridors of power in the nation’s capital, including the three branches of government and large federal agencies. The KMT shuttered its representative office in the US in 2008 shortly after Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected president. After a hiatus of more than 10 years, the KMT is reopening a liaison office to mend its ties with the US. Huang said that the short-term goals of the liaison office are appointing the party’s top representative to the US and establishing communication channels in Washington. The emphasis would then be placed on strengthening diplomatic relations, expanding channels for interaction with the US and expounding on the KMT’s policies toward the US, he said. Nurturing diplomatic talent within the KMT is also a goal, Huang said, as the office would conduct visits to the US Congress and think
‘WARNING’: Infections in Palau were caused by the Omicron variant, and travelers from there would face the quarantine rules that apply to everyone else, the CECC said
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 13 local COVID-19 infections and issued a level 3 travel alert for Palau. The new cases are four linked to a cluster infection at Kaohsiung Harbor, two linked to a cluster at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, one linked to a hotel cluster in Yilan County, one linked to a family cluster in Taipei, one linked to a restaurant cluster in Taoyuan and one linked to an imported case, as well as three infections with unclear sources, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. The new cases linked to the Kaohsiung cluster are family members and contacts of previous cases, Chen said. No new cases were found after COVID-19 tests were conducted on Monday on 2,619 workers at Taoyuan’s Farglory Free Trade Zone (遠雄自由貿易港區), where 102 cases have been confirmed, he said. However, some workers have not been tested, Chen said, adding that a second round was to be conducted yesterday on personnel at the two firms with the most cases. One of the new cases is the grandmother of a child who tested positive after arriving in Taiwan, he said, adding that the grandmother had cared for the child during the latter’s isolation period. The three new cases with unclear infection sources are two sisters who attend a preschool in Taoyuan, and a 58-year-old man who lives in Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭) and had recently traveled to Hsinchu, Chen said. They tested positive after seeking medical attention at healthcare facilities, he added. Compared with the global COVID-19 situation, the daily case numbers in Taiwan are relatively low, and although there are a few sporadic cases with unclear infection sources, contact tracing is clarifying transmission chains and helping people feel safer as the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, Chen said. The local COVID-19 situation is under
People aged 18 or older who received their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least three months (84 days) ago are eligible to book an appointment for a booster dose using the national COVID-19 vaccination booking system from 10am today. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) spokesman, said that appointment bookings start at 10am today and end at 4pm tomorrow, and the vaccination appointments would be from Feb. 7 to 13. People who were born on or before Feb. 13, 2004, who received their second dose of a vaccine on or before Nov. 21 last year are eligible to book an appointment on the 1922.gov.tw Web site, Chuang said. Bookings are to be opened in three phases today, starting at 10am for eligible recipients who are 65 or older, at midday for eligible recipients aged 50 to 64, and at 2pm for people aged 18 to 49, he said. Eligible recipients who have just met the eligibility criteria, such as those who received their second dose on Nov. 21 last year, can only choose Feb. 13 for their booster dose, while those who received their second dose on Nov. 20 last year can only choose Feb. 12 or 13, to meet the requirement that doses are at least 84 days apart. People who still need to receive a first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can book an appointment with designated healthcare facilities, which can be found on the cdc.gov.tw Web site, or with a visit to a walk-in vaccination site run by a local government, the CECC said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that 328,357 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered on Monday, bringing the nation’s first-dose vaccination rate to 81.26 percent, full vaccination rate
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