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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as