New Taipei City on Friday launched a trial program to monitor and care for people at risk of unknowingly developing abnormally low blood oxygen levels, amid reports of people with COVID-19 dying from the condition.
The program, implemented at the direction of New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), has selected 60 people for a trial, during which participants provided with thermometers and oximeters would upload data on their condition to a platform for monitoring, the city government said.
Should the program prove successful, it would be expanded to include city residents confirmed to have COVID-19, it said.
The platform monitors participants’ temperatures
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) emphasized during Thursday’s press conference the priority order for vaccinations, especially the top three categories which consist of healthcare workers, government epidemic prevention personnel, and frontline workers.
New Taipei City pushes forward e-cigarette ban
PUBLIC HEALTH FOCUS: The city’s draft targets the sale and underage users, while similar legislation is planned in neighboring Taipei and nationwide
Staff writer, with CNA
The New Taipei City Council on Thursday approved an ordinance to ban the sale of e-cigarettes, which would make it the first of the nation’s six special municipalities to impose such a ban if it is approved by the Executive Yuan.
The draft regulation prohibits manufacturing, importation, sale, display and advertising of vaping devices, and heated tobacco products and components without an individual drug or medical device license issued by the city government.