The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday outlined travel guidelines for long weekends to prevent cluster infections of COVID-19 and said that it would officially declare them soon.
Some have suggested that the government either cancel the International Workers’ Day long weekend from May 1 to 3 or impose a domestic travel ban, after many travelers failed to observe “social distancing” rules recommended by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) — 1.5m in outdoor areas and 1m while indoors — during the Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend.
Others have suggested that the government target 11 popular travel destinations with text messages reminding people to practice social distancing.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The government has realized the importance of crowd control at outdoor events and regards it as a disease prevention challenge following the Tomb Sweeping holiday, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said in an interview at the Legislative Yuan.
Following the gathering of large crowds during the long weekend, the public is concerned whether the COVID-19 situation would worsen, he said.
Giving an example, Chi said that how to properly disinfect facilities at night markets remains an issue, as visitors are likely to take off their masks and walk while eating.
The ministry and the CECC have jointly stipulated general principles governing the size of crowds in scenic areas, travel destinations and hotels, Chi said.
Specifically, safe capacity at amusement parks would be lowered to 50 percent of their maximum capacity during the nation’s disease prevention period, he said.
At certain popular theme parks, the public would be warned against visiting the venues if they reach their safe capacity, he added.
If the number of visitors at a theme park reaches 55 percent of its maximum capacity, the management would have to start limiting foot traffic, Chi said.
The managements of outdoor scenic areas can start restricting the entry of vehicles to parking facilities if the number of parked vehicles reach 50 percent of the facility’s capacity, he said.
If a scenic area can accommodate more than 100 people at a time, the management can also set a daily limit on the number of visitors and ask people to make reservations in advance, he added.
Visitors to indoor facilities would be asked to enter and exit venues from a single point of access, Chi said.
If the number of visitors inside a venue reach 50 percent of capacity, people would be required to visit during different hours of the day, he said.
As travel destinations are overseen by different government agencies, each agency would have to set its own criteria to regulate the entry of visitors, Chi said.
In other developments, the Tourism Bureau yesterday said that it would extend a policy that bans travel agencies from organizing overseas trips or hosting international tourists until May 31 in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases at home and overseas.
Meanwhile, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said that it is considering closing one of the two terminals at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for renovation after the number of travelers using the facility dropped to less than 1,000 per day, the lowest since the airport opened 41 years ago.
The airport company estimated that closing Terminal 1 would affect 250 weekly flights, while 400 weekly flights would be affected if Terminal 2 is closed.
Chi said that the company would brief ministry officials about its assessment of the situation, but added that it has to address several issues first.
It has to consider how airplanes would share the use of airport facilities if there is only one terminal available and how much time it would have to finish the renovation, which would depend on when the pandemic would slow, he said.
“If the disease ends sooner than expected, can [a single] terminal handle the rapid surge in travelers?” he asked.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS