The Executive Yuan yesterday approved changes to a COVID-19 relief program, including payments of NT$100,000 (US$3,571) to surviving kin of people who have died from COVID-19, as well as subsidies for part-time workers, start-up entrepreneurs and Alien Permanent Resident Certificate holders.
Following a report by the National Development Council at a Cabinet meeting in Taipei, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) approved the amendments, which relax subsidy requirements, increase funding and establish new categories of funding to help reduce financial burdens as part of the “Stimulus 4.0” program, which was launched following the implementation of a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert.
Part-time workers whose insurance premiums are less than NT$23,100 per year are to receive subsidies of NT$10,000 each from a pool of NT$4.2 billion, funds that are expected to benefit 410,000 people, the Executive Yuan said.
Photo: CNA
The definition of a short-term part-time worker has been expanded to include short-term substitutes or substitutes paid an hourly wage, it said.
Students at vocational schools whose have their private-sector cooperation contracts suspended due to the pandemic are also to receive subsidies, the Executive Yuan said.
Families with a member who has died from COVID-19 are to receive NT$100,000 each, it said.
As of yesterday, the nation had reported 605 deaths from the virus.
The stimulus program is to establish a new subsidy for vehicle rental agencies to cover pandemic-related expenditure from last month to May next year, the Executive Yuan said, adding that rental firms are to benefit from a 50 percent reduction in fuel taxes from next month to Sept. 30.
People who are affected by the pandemic and are forced to take loans to pay for insurance would be granted reduced interest rates, it said.
People who face loan repayment difficulties because of the level 3 COVID-19 alert can apply to delay payments for up to six months, with interest and late fees voided, it said.
The Executive Yuan is increasing funds for innovative entrepreneurship and credit guarantee schemes, it said.
The program is to provide subsidies to private cram schools, certification centers and kindergartens for loans they take during the alert period, it said.
Performance troupes and companies facing hardship can apply for loans of up to NT$6 million, with subsidies covering interest rates, it said, adding that up to 1,000 groups would benefit.
The 27,000 people with permanent residency in Taiwan are eligible for relief subsidies, it said.
It is scaling back electricity prices for last month through next month by up to 30 percent, which would apply to the service sector and agriculture users, or about 750,000 customers, it said.
About 10 million average residential users are expected to benefit from a decision to forgo implementing summer electricity rates this month, it said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
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
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