Losing its physical fair within days of opening because of a new COVID-19 outbreak, Taiwan’s biggest book fair extends its online run by four months. (Sponsored)
Taipei International Book Exhibition chair Robert Lin speaks in the show’s grand opening video. Image: TIBE
Robert Lin: ‘The Fortifying Power of Books’
With its online evocation offered in English as well as Chinese, the Taipei International Book Exhibition is off to an energetic start, seemingly no loss of spirit because of the COVID-19 virus outbreak that has scuttled its physical elements.
Originally planned for both digital and physical presentation, the show is annually the kickoff to world publishing’s new year of public-facing fair events and Frankfurter Buchmesse’s professional programming for the book trade. But on January 20, when Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center swiftly revised its crowd guidance as several cases were confirmed, the administration of the moved quickly to quell a series of
IFJ 25 January 2021
Taiwan: ATJ monitoring shows layoffs and disruptions to reporting in 2020
The disruption of the global economy due to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 exacerbated the commercial challenges already facing the media industry around the world. In Taiwan, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)’s affiliate, the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ), documented the loss of more than 200 journalists’ jobs as a result of layoffs. A masked medical staff walks out a Covid-19 coronavirus testing area outside the Taoyuan General Hospital, where a cluster of Covid-19 coronavirus infections were detected, in Taoyuan on January 19, 2021. Credit: Sam Yeh/AFP
On February 20,
said it would cease publication on February 29. The ATJ
The Diplomat has removed paywall restrictions on our coverage of the COVID–19 crisis.
People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus go through gates of a metro in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020.
Credit: AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying
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Taiwan has reported 12 total cases of COVID-19 linked to a cluster of infections at a northern hospital, leading the country to stiffen some regulations to prevent further community spread.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung announced two new domestically transmitted cases on January 22, both linked to the cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital.
Taiwan went over eight months without a locally transmitted case of COVID-19 before a pilot for Taiwan’s EVA Air infected a Taiwanese woman in December. It has reported 12 cases in the hospital cluster since January 12.