Headline News

 

Taiwan steps away from returning to normalcy

 

Following the Central Epidemic Command Center's (CECC) announcement on May 10, that Taiwan has gone 28 days without reporting a single local transmission of COVID-19, Taiwan is only steps away from a return to normalcy, said Premier Su Tseng-chang.

 

This record of a 28-day streak of zero local cases signified that the country had, for the most part, successfully contained the spread of the infectious disease and that Taiwanese could expect to return to business as usual in the coming weeks if the trend continues, said Su.

 

The Premier exchanged ideas with President Tsai Ing-wen on how the government should ease restrictions imposed during the pandemic and revive the economy. He encouraged people to go outdoors more and resume normal spending given that they follow the CECC's guidelines.

 

Minister Lin Chia-lung of Transportation and Communications also hinted that an initiative to revive Taiwan's tourism would be introduced once the streak of no local infections reached 30 days.

 

The CECC said officials have started to consider making mask-wearing non-compulsory on public transportation.

 

Foreign demand for Taiwan made surgical masks surges

 

 

Following complaints of defective masks and testing kits imported from China, Taiwan has seen soaring demand from countries for its surgical masks, despite the fact that the export of protective gear is banned till the end of June.

Officials revealed that the authorities have been inundated with inquiries about surgical mask procurement, but such medical supplies are shipped to countries worldwide through medical aid, not by commercial sale.

 

Minister Shen Jong-chin of Economic Affairs said that the decision to end the ban is in the hands of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

 

Taiwan develops 10-minute coronavirus test kit

 

Chairman Cooky Chen of Taiwanese biomedical company Excelsior-Bio-System Inc. (EBS) announced on May 7, that the company has created a rapid test kit to detect antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

 

The kit's rapid screening reagent can determine whether a person has been infected with the coronavirus within 10 minutes. A clinical study carried out by National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) has validated the test kit and Chen claims that the test has 100 percent sensitivity and 95 percent specificity.

 

Chen stated that the test kit was submitted on May 5 to the Health Ministry for urgent authorization for production. Once approval is granted, the company can manufacture 300,000 to 400,000 tests per month

 

Pompeo calls on nations to support Taiwan’s WHO bid

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday (May 6) called for "all nations" to back Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) and called on the organization's leader Tedros to take executive action to permit Taiwan to attend the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA).

 

 

In line with the Trump administration's campaign to garner support for Taiwan's participation in the WHO as an observer, Pompeo called on member nations to include Taiwan in the upcoming annual WHA meeting slated for May 18 to 19.

 

In particular, Pompeo singled out European nations as he called for Taiwan's admittance: "I want to call on all nations, including those in Europe, to support Taiwan's participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly and other relevant United Nations venues."

 

Computer and IT industry 7.3% revenue growth in Q1

 

The computer and information technology (IT) service sector saw revenue grow 7.3 percent in the first quarter of 2020 to NT$90.8 billion (US$3.04 billion), the highest ever first quarter increase in revenue, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Monday.

The growth in the first quarter was mainly boosted by increased demand for 5G technologies and network information services, the ministry added.

In the industry as a whole, the computer programming segment reported an increase in revenue of 10.1 percent to NT$69.2 billion for the quarter, also a record for the quarter, driven mainly by strong demand for enterprise-use software and hardware, integrated services for 5G technologies and switch data networks, according to the ministry.