The COVID-19 outbreak is putting considerable strain on medical treatment in Taiwan. A good way to reduce the workload of healthcare and disease prevention personnel would be to let machines do any jobs that do not need a human.
A final diagnosis of COVID-19 is made based on the results of a person’s polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which takes three to four hours when done by hand. A rise in screening volume pushes facilities to increase testing capacity more equipment, more personnel and longer working hours which greatly increases the screening staff’s risk of infection. If the tests
COVID-19: Five-day isolation returns for airline crew
By Lin Liang-sheng
and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Starting on Saturday next week, airline flight crew members arriving from abroad who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 would be required to undergo five days of mandatory home isolation followed by nine days of self-health management, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Monday.
Flight crew members are considered a high-risk group liable to spread COVID-19, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
The announcement came amid criticism that the CECC’s decision on April 15 to reduce the quarantine period for pilots and flight crew from five to three days, with 11 days of self-health management, created a gap in the nation’s defenses against COVID-19, resulting in an outbreak.
COVID-19: Bus drivers urge speedy payment of relief funds
WARNING: There has been a shortage of bus drivers for years, and firms might not be able to resume services if the drivers move to other jobs, a union chairman said
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The Kuo-Kuang Motor Transportation Workers’ Union yesterday urged the government to give relief funds to bus operators to cover their drivers’ salaries as quickly as possible after a nationwide level 3 alert for COVID-19 led to a sharp decline in passenger numbers.
Bus companies could previously generate at least NT$12 million (US$434,201) in revenue per day during the Dragon Boat Festival, but last year daily revenue dropped to NT$8 million as many people preferred to use private vehicles due to the pandemic, union chairman Yang Rong-de (楊榮德) said.