Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) yesterday urged the Ministry of Health and Welfare to issue “guidelines for living” for people to follow on weekends and holidays amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Ho Chi-kung (何啟功) at a meeting of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Su said that before the Children’s Day and Tomb Sweeping Day holiday from Thursday to Sunday, she had advised the ministry to set guidelines on how people should spend the four-day break.
While the ministry asked people to practice social distancing, it fell short of telling people to stay home during the holiday, she said.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times
“We had originally looked forward to being able to breathe a sigh of relief after this spring break,” she said.
“Now, not only are we not relieved, everyone is more tense,” she said.
After the Central Epidemic Command Center on Saturday sent two text messages warning people to avoid crowded areas and to follow social distancing regulations — at least 1.5m apart indoors and 1m outdoors — people were “very obedient,” Su said.
Roads became empty the day after the messages were sent, she said.
She said she hoped the ministry would set clearer guidelines on what people should do during the upcoming Labor Day weekend and on weekends, and ask people to try to stay home during the pandemic.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), also a committee member, asked the health ministry to explore the feasibility of working with the Ministry of Education to allow students to pick up their purchases of masks at school.
Many people still have to wait in line to buy masks at pharmacies, Wu said.
With parents at work and children at school, it is often the grandparents who are standing in line, he said.
Ho said while the health ministry would consider the proposal, it might result in the education ministry having to “spend more effort.”
DPP Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰), another committee member, raised the importance of including the homeless population in the fight against the coronavirus.
Homeless people often gather in transportation hubs like Taipei Railway Station — the same places people returning from abroad often pass through — and might be more vulnerable than others to contracting the virus, he said.
They might also be physically weaker due to spending long periods of time outdoors, he said.
He urged the health ministry to help keep homeless people up to date on the latest information about the pandemic and to make washing facilities more accessible to them.
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