FOOD SECURITY
<strong>Food sites see traffic soar</strong>
The Council of Agriculture yesterday said online sellers of agricultural products have reported a 50 percent surge in sales from Tuesday last week, when the nation began to see an escalation of locally transmitted cases of COVID-19. Products flying off the shelves include frozen dumplings, pizza, rice, noodles and canned food, it said. The agency said that to boost supplies, it has stepped up efforts to connect more farmers with online operators. The agency assured the public, saying that there are ample supplies of aquatic and agricultural products online. The agency said there are 223,300
COVID-19: Hoarders hit stores, despite calls not to
SUFFICIENT SUPPLY: Taiwan has an abundance of pandemic-related goods in storage, and protocols have been implemented to ensure that the supply chain is not broken
By Fang Pin-chao and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Hordes of customers descended on hypermarkets and supermarkets in Taipei and New Taipei City after the government yesterday raised the COVID-19 alert level for the two municipalities to level 3 until May 28.
Earlier in the day, the Central Epidemic Command Center reported 180 new domestically transmitted cases, most of them in Taipei and New Taipei City.
Despite the government urging the public to stop hoarding daily necessities, shelves were stripped bare while cashiers were working as fast as they could.
Taipei to offer testing to migrants without papers
BROADER EFFORTS: Opening facilities specifically for vulnerable groups would help close a loophole in the nation’s health framework, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said
Staff writer, with CNA
Migrant workers without valid residency documents would not be punished or deported if they take rapid COVID-19 tests at four testing sites soon to be set up in the capital, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) told a news briefing yesterday.
The new measure is to encourage unlicensed migrant workers to get tested at a time when Taipei has been affected by COVID-19 cluster infections, especially in Wanhua District (萬華), Ko said.