Guam. CNA file photo
Jakarta/Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) A Taiwan-bound humanitarian charter flight has been arranged for Jan. 11 to transport about 50 passengers who are either in need of medical care or stranded on the islands of Guam and Saipan, Taiwan s representative office in Guam said on Wednesday.
The planned flight, first reported by the Guam Daily Post earlier Wednesday, will be operated by China Airlines, one of Taiwan s major carriers.
It will carry Guam residents seeking off-island medical treatment and Taiwanese nationals stranded in the United States territory due to COVID-19-triggered unemployment, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Guam told CNA.
A government-designated quarantine center in New Taipei. CNA file photo
Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Travelers to Taiwan who wish to stay at government centers during their 14-day mandatory quarantine will be able to book a room in one of them beginning Jan. 8 and stay in one starting Jan. 11, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.
The rooms are open to both Taiwanese and foreign nationals, CECC official Wang Pi-Sheng (王必勝) said at a press conference.
The cost to stay at the centers will be NT$2,000 (US$70) per night, down from the previous rate of NT$3,000 a night, and around 1,500 to 2,000 rooms will be available, Wang said.
CECC advisor Chang Shan-chwen. Photo courtesy of the CECC
Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Two more individuals who recently traveled from the United Kingdom to Taiwan have been confirmed to be infected with the U.K. variant of the COVID-19 virus, one of whom is currently on a respirator, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.
Both of the patients are British men, one in his 30s and the other in his 70s, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said at a press conference.
The patient on the respirator is in his 70s and came to Taiwan to visit family on Dec. 18. He began to have a cough, sore throat, shortness of breath and fatigue during quarantine and was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Dec. 31, according to the CECC.
Carnaby Street, London. CNA photo Dec. 23, 2020
Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways said Wednesday that their suspension of direct flights to London will continue through February, due to the escalation of the COVID-19 situation in the United Kingdom.
The extension followed a decision in December 2020 by the two airlines to cancel all direct passenger and cargo flights between Taoyuan and London for the month of January.
On Wednesday, CAL said the suspension of its flights between the two cities will carry over into February because the U.K. was battling a new, highly infectious variant of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Virus Outbreak: Four imported cases with UK strain found: CECC
GENOME SEQUENCING: The likely more transmissable virus strain was found in previously confirmed cases who did not pose a risk to local communities, the center said
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Four COVID-19 cases in Taiwan were confirmed to be infected with the new virus strain discovered last month in the UK, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it also reported two new imported cases.
As the new COVID-19 variant is believed to be much more transmissible than other strains, the CECC in the past few weeks began genome sequencing of samples from confirmed cases with high viral loads.