HEALTH
Cases stay above 40,000
Daily new COVID-19 cases in Taiwan exceeded 40,000 for the third consecutive day yesterday, as the nation confirmed 45,269 new local infections and 57 deaths from the disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. The deceased ranged in age from their teens to their 90s, and all but four had underlying health issues, such as cancer and kidney-related diseases, CECC data showed. New Taipei City reported the highest number of new cases, with 9,775, followed by Taichung with 5,854, Taipei with 5,401, Taoyuan with 4,758, Kaohsiung with 3,704 and Tainan with 2,662, the CECC said in a statement. Changhua County had 2,091 new cases, Hsinchu County 1,304, Hsinchu City 1,204, Pingtung County 1,140, Miaoli County 1,089, Yilan County 1,050, Keelung 975 and Yunlin County 972. Nantou County had 842 cases, Hualien County 689, Chiayi County 685, Chiayi City 461, Taitung County 289, Kinmen County 161, Penghu County 142, and Lienchiang County 21, the CECC said.
TRANSPORTATION
Truck stops rail services
Train services between New Taipei City’s Fulong (福隆) and Yilan County’s Dali (大里) were briefly suspended yesterday after a tractor-trailer truck traveling along Provincial Highway No. 2 overturned and became stuck on a hillside above the railway tracks, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA). Police said the incident occurred near the highway’s 116km marker at about 7:48am, when the truck’s driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed through the guardrails along the roadside. The truck overturned and crashed into a thicket of trees, coming to rest on a hillside just 10m above the tracks. Service was restored on the outer track at 1pm and on the inner track at about 2:30pm, the TRA said. The driver, surnamed Huang (黃), freed himself after the incident and was treated in a hospital for minor injuries. A breath alcohol test conducted at the scene came back negative, police said.
TRADE
Deals signed for US crops
An agricultural mission on an official trip to Washington on Wednesday signed three letters of intent with US exporters to buy US$3.2 billion of crops next year and in 2024. Witnessed by 28 US lawmakers and several legislators from Taiwan, the delegation, led by Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城), signed the pacts with US agricultural industry associations to purchase soybeans, corn and wheat. Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said agricultural products play an important role in the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade. Taipei and Washington are scheduled to hold the first round of negotiations this fall on the trade initiative covering 11 areas with the goal of working toward a trade agreement.
DIPLOMACY
Pact signed with Belize
Belize yesterday signed a coast guard cooperation agreement with Taiwan covering search and rescue, fisheries enforcement and combating transnational crime at sea. Belizean Minister of National Defense and Border Security Florencio Marin Jr said the pact is part of Belize’s military diplomacy to strengthen partnership with its allies, the Belizean Ministry of National Defense and Border Security said in a statement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agreement was first signed by then-Ocean Affairs Council minister Lee Chung-wei (李仲威) in Taiwan and sent to Marin Jr to be signed in Belize.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
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