The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that about 1.12 million bottles of rubbing alcohol would tomorrow be distributed to retailers across Taiwan.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who is deputy commander of the center, said that the CECC’s National Epidemic Prevention Meeting with city and county government officials reached a consensus on three issues.
First, as COVID-19 cases have been reported in many cities and counties, the CECC would provide local governments with additional data about the locations that residents who tested positive for the disease visited, Chen said, adding that this would help accelerate contact tracing.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Department
Second, the CECC asked local governments to expand quarantine hotel capacity, Chen said, adding that this would help accommodate infected people with no or mild symptoms.
The hotels should implement the same measures as centralized quarantine facilities, he said.
Lastly, the center asked local social welfare departments to continue giving masks to homeless people, monitor their health and, if necessary, arrange for COVID-19 testing, Chen said.
Tourism Bureau data showed that as of Friday, there were 19,174 quarantine hotel rooms across the nation.
Chen said that 1,395 are to be added soon, which would bring the total to 20,569 rooms.
Taipei has the most quarantine hotel rooms in the nation (6,884 rooms), followed by 3,733 rooms in Kaohsiung, 2,332 rooms in Taoyuan, 1,605 rooms in New Taipei City and 1,510 rooms in Taichung, CECC data showed.
Chen said that local governments expressed concern about the distribution of rubbing alcohol for sanitizing, as about 1.7 million bottles have so far been sold this month.
There are about 1.12 million bottles in stock, Chen said, adding that about 1.5 million bottles would be made available next week.
Chen said that the 1.12 million bottles would from tomorrow be distributed to retailers across Taiwan, adding that people should not rush to buy rubbing alcohol this weekend.
More would be made available in the coming weeks, he added.
Meanwhile, the CECC dismissed misinformation about the pandemic, including a claim that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had tested positive for COVID-19 and another that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) was involved in insider trading of vaccine manufacturer shares.
It was not true that the government wants the COVID-19 situation to worsen to raise vaccine demand, Chen said.
The CECC has also not ordered homeless people to eat their meals at home, he added.
Such rumors intend to arouse fear and public distrust in Taiwan’s disease prevention efforts, Chen said, adding that some might be part of Chinese “cognitive warfare” efforts to mislead Taiwanese.
The center urged people to “be suspicious, check the truthfulness [of COVID-19 information] and avoid spreading” information from unknown sources.
People should call the 165 anti-fraud hotline if they receive a call from someone who claims to represent the CECC or a local health department and asks them to transfer money or provide personal information, he added.
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