COVID-19

Prague thanks Taiwan for medical supplies: “Taiwan’s success inspiring”

Mayor of Prague
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The Mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib thanked Taiwan for donating ventilators, saying that they will be used to save lives. Czech Parliament Senator Jiří Drahoš  joined Hřib in a video to thank the people of Taiwan. “Dear people of Taiwan,” Mayor Hřib, a qualified physician, said; “your success in your fight with coronavirus has been very inspiring for us here in Prague.” “I hope this situation will be over soon so that we can cooperate more in the future.” The message

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Why Taiwan hasn’t implemented universal COVID-19 screening: false positives would overwhelm medical resources

medical worker about to swab inside somebody's mouth
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

If universal screening for COVID-19 were implemented, people who tested positive, but who are not sick, would vastly overwhelm resources available for people who actually need them, according to experts at Tunghai University. SETN reports that The Department of Applied Physics at Tunghai University posted on Facebook that no matter how powerful the testing technology is, there will always be false positives, as well as false negatives. Statistics applied, even assuming the accuracy of the test method is so high

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WHO senior doctor pretends not to hear question about Taiwan, ends video call with Hong Kong reporter

Bruce Aylward of the WHO
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 11 Comments , , ,

Assistant director-general of the World Health Organization Bruce Aylward appeared to go deaf, or to have experienced technical difficulties when a Hong Kong reporter asked him a question about Taiwan, then rudely hung up when the reporter repeated the question. During an interview for RTHK’s weekly current affairs show, The Pulse, Yvonne Tong asked Aylward: “Will the WHO reconsider Taiwan’s membership?” Aylward’s eyes and mouth twitched with a slightly pained expression, then followed a long, awkward silence with Aylward staring

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In the midst of viral panic, everybody ignores the problem of false positives, and they call for more tests

medical worker about to swab inside somebody's mouth
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

To get a more complete picture of how widespread the virus is in the United States, “we’re going to need millions and millions and millions of tests,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., during a CNN town hall on March 5, reported Science News. Yesterday, March 18, Taiwan reported a record daily number of “confirmed cases” of Covid-19 at 23, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 100. Eleven

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MOTC proposes NT$30 billion bailout fund, China Airlines issues NT$10 billion in bonds as aviation industry faces virus crisis

Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has proposed an NT$30 billion bailout loan package for Taiwan’s six airlines, but the plan has not yet been approved by the premier, according to Executive Yuan Spokesperson Kolas Yotaka. A previous bailout package was approved to the tune of NT$4.8 billion, but MOTC Minister Lin Chia-lung indicated recently that the figure may be raised to NT$30 billion because the aviation industry requires capital turnover. Today’s announcement comes on the same day that

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Letter from Italy: Life under lock-down

map of quarantined areas of Italy
International 
Joshua Rasia 0 Comment , , ,

After living in China and Thailand, Joseph Rasia is in Italy, and plans to come to Taiwan later this year. LIFE IN THE RED, LOCK-DOWN AREA OF ITALY The ambient light and the clock ticking faster than before awake me. It’s 1:00 am and the TV screen shows the last decree from the Prime Minister: Lombardy is a red zone, and nobody without special permission, which could only be an emergency situation or working reasons can move to different areas.

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Taiwan Vice-President schools WHO Director-General on epidemic prevention and control

Chen Chein-jen-vs-Tedros-of-the-WHO
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan’s Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁)  called out World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on his unprofessional interpretation of data, after world health body claimed a 3.4% mortality rate from COVID-19. Vice-President Chen, a qualified epidemiologist, who helped steer Taiwan through the SARS crisis of 2003 while serving as Minister of Health, made the statement in an interview with Mirror Weekly. Tedros claimed in a speech at WHO on March 3 that, “Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19

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Airline warns employees of contingency plans as viral panic causes financial avalanche

China Airlines plane
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan’s national carrier China Airlines appealed to its 10,000 employees to be considerate and cooperative as the company faces an “economic avalanche” worse than SARS or the 2009 financial crisis. China Airlines issued the statement in an open letter to employees yesterday, March 2, warning that if the company’s operating conditions continue to deteriorate due to the epidemic situation, further contingency plans will have to be made. The airline announced that 49% of flights in March have been cancelled, after

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ICAO misrepresents Taiwan as “province of China” in press release on economic impact of coronavirus

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) headquarters, Montreal, Canada
International Relations 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , , ,

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) referred to Taiwan as a province of China in a press release forecasting the economic impact of the Wuhan coronavirus on international airlines, February 13. Using the World Health Organization’s (WHO) freshly-designated name COVID-19, which was coined to avoid reference to the original source of the epidemic in a capital city of a province of China, the press release noted that 70 airlines have cancelled international flights to and from China, and that a

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