Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) yesterday asked Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to offer monetary compensation to medical personnel who have to forgo overseas travel due to a travel ban amid a COVID-19 outbreak.
There has been an increase in the workload of medical personnel since the novel coronavirus reached Taiwan, and they have been asked not to travel to countries and regions affected by the virus, Chen said at a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan.
Medical personnel live in fear of contracting the virus and have come under immense pressure from some members of the public, he said, adding that some couriers refuse to deliver food to hospitals.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Chen asked Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) how many medical personnel have been placed under travel restrictions, how much the government plans to compensate them daily and how the Ministry of Health and Welfare intends to spend its proposed NT$16.9 billion (US$561.7 million) slice of a NT$60 billion special budget for containing the epidemic and bailing out affected sectors.
About 320,000 medical personnel, including physicians, nurses and pharmacists, have been asked not to travel to countries and regions affected by the coronavirus, Chen Shih-chung said, adding that all of them would be compensated.
The ministry has set aside NT$1.8 billion for the research and development of drugs to treat COVID-19, NT$2 billion for compensating medical personnel and NT$4 billion to make up for possible shortfalls in these expenses, he added.
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) said that of the personnel treating COVID-19 patients, physicians would receive a daily subsidy of NT$10,000, nurses NT$5,000 per day and administrative workers NT$1,500.
Chen Po-wei said that the outbreak has reaffirmed the nation’s sovereignty, as some Taiwanese entertainers who had been Chinese “lapdogs” have suddenly become “proud Taiwanese,” adding that people who view this as a positive development should thank medical personnel combating the epidemic.
Su said that the government imposed the travel restrictions not because it wants medical personnel to work longer, but because 67 nations have been affected by the coronavirus.
The government would reimburse medical personnel for any losses they incur as a result of the travel restrictions, including any fees that have to be forfeited, he said.
International observers had predicted that Taiwan would be the second-most affected nation from COVID-19 after China, but the epidemic has been brought under control domestically, Su said, thanking all medical personnel who have dedicated themselves to containing the virus.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Finance and other concerned agencies would fine tune subsidy and compensation rules in the interests of medical personnel, he said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to