Barbecuing in pedestrian arcades in Taipei would be allowed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but masks must be worn while cooking food and the food must be eaten indoors, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Monday announced that barbecuing would be banned at riverside parks in the city during the holiday this year.
All Mid-Autumn Festival events must comply with restrictions under a level 2 COVID-19 alert, including no more than 80 people indoors and 300 people outdoors, mask wearing, and no eating or drinking, Ko said, adding that people should also practice social distancing or use table dividers when barbecuing at home.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
COVID-19 infection risks do not stem from barbecuing, but rather from crowds, so people should practice disease prevention measures even while enjoying a meal together, he said.
When asked about barbecuing in pedestrian arcades, Huang said that from a legal perspective, such areas are private property that have been opened to the public, so people are allowed to use them.
“However, please wear a mask” while cooking, she said. “And please take the food into your home to eat.”
Barbecuing in public spaces is generally banned in the city and allowing people to use riverside parks during the Mid-Autumn Festival was an exception in past years, but the government cannot ban people from using their own property, such as on rooftops or yards, she said.
Enforcement of alert rules is difficult in private spaces, so the government urges people to show self-discipline, and understand that crowds, not wearing a mask and breaches of social distancing increase the risk of infection, even within households, she said.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS