Sat, Dec 02, 2023 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  TRAVEL

  HSR ticket event starts

  The government yesterday launched a six-month campaign allowing foreigners making short visits to Taiwan to buy two high-speed rail (HSR) tickets to central and southern Taiwan for the price of one. From noon yesterday to May 31, people with visa-exempt entry or tourist visas allowing maximum stays of 180 days can purchase the tickets at online travel platforms KKday and Klook, the Tourism Administration said in a press release. Holders of Taiwan’s resident certificates or a Republic of China passport are not eligible to purchase the tickets, which are aimed at encouraging foreign tourists to visit less-traveled central and southern Taiwan, it said. The limited offer, based on a first-come, first-served basis, applies to HSR journeys ending at Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan or Kaohsiung’s Zuoying stations, it said. Foreign tourists who take advantage of the promotion this month would be given a bonus package, containing free round-trip tickets on the MRT Taoyuan Airport Line and a 72-hour free pass on the Taipei Metro system. Visitors can redeem that special offer at service counters at the airport line’s A12 and A13 stations between 6am and midnight, it said.

  HEALTH

  Dengue fever rate eases

  The nation reported fewer than 1,000 dengue fever cases in the past week, indicating that the epidemic is alleviating, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Several areas in Tainan and Yunlin County have been removed from the list of hotspot transmission areas, and the situation in Kaohsiung has also become less severe, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Tuesday. With the removal of Tainan and Yunlin’s Gukeng Township (古坑) from the list, there is no longer listed as a dengue fever transmission hotspot, indicating that the epidemic had entered its final phase, Lo said. Central Epidemic Command Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said the 759 domestic cases reported from Nov. 21 to Monday were in 14 administrative regions, mostly in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County. Four deaths and seven severe cases were recorded during that week, Lee said. So far this year, the nation has logged 25,047 local dengue fever cases and 56 deaths, marking its worst outbreak since 2015, when there were more than 43,000 cases and 228 deaths.

  SOCIETY

  Mother dies in tent

  A mother has died and her two daughters received medical treatment after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning at a Hsinchu County campground on Sunday, local authorities said. The Hsinchu County Fire Bureau said it received a call at about 2pm about a suspected poisoning at the campground in a mountainous area of Jianshih Township (尖石). Emergency responders found a woman, a 40-year-old resident of Taoyuan’s Longtan District (龍潭) surnamed Luo (羅), dead inside a tent. Her two daughters, aged 12, were taken by ambulance to a hospital, where they both regained consciousness, the bureau said. Hsinchu police said that initial suspicions were raised after the family failed to come out for breakfast on Sunday morning and then missed the 12pm check-out time. When the campground’s owner opened the tent to check on them, he found all three unconscious and immediately called an ambulance, police said. The bureau said the family might have taken a coal fire into their tent to keep warm as nighttime temperatures plunged. It added that it had referred the matter to police and prosecutors to investigate what exactly had happened.
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