Although the indoor mask mandate for school campuses ended yesterday, the majority of students still wore a mask to school.
School administrators said they encouraged students to decide whether they wanted to wear a mask while respecting other people’s decisions.
Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday eased restrictions for hospitalized patients with an asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 infection.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
As the number of daily local infections has reached a low level, the CECC’s panel of specialists last week agreed to new hospitalization guidelines for asymptomatic or mild cases, which took effect yesterday, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), the CECC’s spokesman.
Only moderate-to-severe cases or people with pneumonia would be hospitalized in designated COVID-19 wards, while asymptomatic or mild cases can stay in single-patient rooms based on what the main reason is for them being in hospital, he said.
The maximum proportion of designated COVID-19 wards in hospitals has been reduced from 8 percent to 5 percent, starting today, Lo said.
Healthcare providers are required to wear an N95 mask and protective clothing when treating confirmed COVID-19 cases, he said.
They can wear a medical-grade or surgical mask when communicating with confirmed cases as long as they do not come into direct contact with them, or a mask and gloves when taking a their blood pressure or body temperature, Lo said.
Eased rules might be announced later this week, he added.
The CECC yesterday reported 6,928 new local cases, 8.6 percent lower than Monday last week, and the lowest figure since Apr. 26 last year.
It also reported 152 new imported cases and 45 deaths.
Separately, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, each received a booster shot of the Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine in Kaohsiung yesterday, to promote the CECC’s policy of encouraging people to get at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine every year.
Taiwan has high COVID-19 vaccination coverage compared with other countries, but the effectiveness of vaccines decreases over time, so the government is encouraging people aged six years or older who have not received an Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine booster since Jan. 1 to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their family, Chen said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
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The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
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