A ban on overseas tours organized by Taiwanese travel agents remains in place, the Tourism Bureau said on Wednesday in reaction to a travel operator who advertised a 21-day trip to the US, promising that participants would get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Los Angeles.
Agents who contravene the rules would be fined up to NT$150,000, and their operating license might be revoked, the bureau said.
The agent said that the tour would be “a business opportunity,” adding that vaccinations should be Taiwan’s top priority amid a surge of the COVID-19 cases.
There is still a risk of contracting the virus, despite a nationwide
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe government yesterday welcomed the arrival of 150,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the first batch of its order from the US pharmaceutical firm.
COVID-19: Outbreak upsets nation’s virus response calculations
AP, TAIPEI
Facing Taiwan’s largest COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic began and looking for rapid virus test kits, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) did what anyone might do: He searched for it online.
“If you don’t know, and you try to know something, please check Google,” Ko told reporters.
Praised for its success at keeping COVID-19 at bay for more than a year, the nation had until last month recorded just 1,128 cases and 12 deaths.
A police officer, right, is pictured in personal protective equipment at a rapid COVID-19 screening station at New Taipei City’s Losheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium.
The government is seeking legislative approval to expand its COVID-19 relief fund to pay cash subsidies to families with young children, totaling up to NT$25 billion (NT$90,035 million), a Cabinet source said yesterday.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) earlier yesterday convened a Cabinet meeting to discuss a possible budget allocation to aid people affected by a surge in domestic COVID-19 cases this month, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
The Cabinet agreed on prioritizing families with young children and children with disabilities, Lo said.
Families with children who attend elementary school or younger, and children with disabilities who attend junior-high or high school
CECC reports 297 new domestic cases
EMPLOYEE HEALTH: The center said that it ‘agreed in principle’ to allow businesses to use rapid testing to check staff for COVID-19, and would draft recommendations
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 297 new local COVID-19 cases, 258 backlogged cases and 19 deaths.
While the center’s disease prevention measures over the past two weeks have helped reduce the spread of the disease, they have not been able to curb the outbreak, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, told a daily news briefing in Taipei.
The daily number of local cases over the past two weeks has remained consistent, showing no sign of declining, Chen said.