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Taipei City Challenges Tsai Administration's Withholding Contact History of Confirmed Virus Cases, Causing Fears |
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Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung differ notably on whether to publicize the contact history of confirmed novel coronavirus cases.
(Photo from: China Times) |
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Ko Criticizes Chen’s Approach as Problematic like China’s
China Times, February 23, 2020
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je claimed that not disclosing the contact history of confirmed novel coronavirus patients might trigger widespread panic.
The viral origin of Taiwan’s 24th case of coronavirus is still not clear, causing apprehension in the Northern part of Taiwan. Mayor Ko Wen-je challenged the government’s decision the day before yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-Chung indicated yesterday that many important figures have demanded release more information on the whereabouts of the confirmed cases, but local governments have full control over the information; therefore, publishing unnecessary details bring about the public’s sense of uneasiness.
Minister Chen indicated that the central government is working closely with local governments. If the later have no way to get necessary information, the Central Epidemic Command Center may then consider revealing the patient’s settlement location.
After learning of Minister Chen’s statement, Mayor Ko said that he didn’t understand and questioned how the central government isn’t publicizing related information but asking local governments to do it instead. Mayor Ko pointed out that previously his disclosure of the Yang Ming Shan settlement site triggered Internet attacks on him. He later checked votes on this issue on the internet and found out that most people in Taiwan want open and transparent information.
Mayor Ko indicated that there are undoubtedly irrational elements of the public outcry; Taiwan, after all, is a relatively mature society and the quality of its people is relatively high. Disclosing the location of the infectious people may cause panic, but capping a lid on the information may cause greater alarm. Mayor Ko claimed that openness and transparency have been his political proposition, and doing the opposite may cause more panic and apprehension, and do no good to protect the people as well.
Mayor Ko said that there are many countries that have evacuated its people from Wuhan and he pointedly asked: So far, which country has not announced the place of settlement? Only Taiwan. Why is the situation in China deranged? The answer lies in withholding the truth. Mayor Ko said that we oftentimes criticize mainland China for this and that, in truth the logic of reasoning by Taiwan and China are almost the same, for both being nurtured in the same old soy sauce tank.
Minister Chen insinuated that in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act, once local authorities receive notifications of suspicious cases, they should promptly inspect and trace the origins of the infection, and report the information to the central authority. Local authorities should not sit idly by, and say something sarcastically like “I am not happy.” Local authorities should shoulder the responsibility and collaborate with the central government.
In addition, a man calling himself a Taiwanese businessman’s father called in a television talk show the night before, claiming that his son is quite healthy, and has no symptoms whatsoever, but was wrongly declared a confirmed case. Minister Chen said the father’s remarks were actually the fuse for labeling his son. He said that according to the health insurance records, the Taiwanese businessman working in China’s Zhejiang Province did seek medical treatment because of physical discomfort.
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20200223000403-260114?chdtv
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Why Can’t We Have a “Wuhan Mode?”
China Times, February 22, 2020
The 19 Taiwanese passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship finally returned to Taiwan safely on the China Airlines charter flight. The restless individuals and their families finally felt relieved. President Tsai Ing-wen stated on Facebook that protecting the safety of passengers, medical staff, and crew members was the highest guiding principle, which explained why we insisted on sending our plane to evacuate. A spokesman for the Office of the President also emphasized that what the government insisted has always been on “epidemic prevention, not politics.”
Wuhan has been the area hardest hit by the novel coronavirus. The call for returning home of the stranded Taiwanese businessmen in Wuhan has not diminished. But after the first charter flight, there was no second charter flight because of the breakdown of cross-strait negotiations. The president’s Facebook post suggested that they must be picked up by our charter plane. The mainland did not want to be misled to "evacuation of nationals" and insisted that the mainland send its charter plane. Each side held its ground and left Taiwanese businessmen on their own.
This is exactly politics. What else? Whenever encounter cross-strait issues, it is all politics. A mere 19 people on the Diamond Princess long stranded off Yokohama have already brought back. While nearly thousand Taiwanese businessmen and their relatives in Wuhan are left crying out for help. Are people’s lives truly the priority of the Tsai administration? The Tsai administration decided that the non-citizen children of mainland spouses stuck in the mainland could not return to Taiwan. Isn’t this politics? Humanity can easily be discarded.
President Tsai is very proud of the charter plane arrangement of the Princess Diamond, which she dubbed the “Yokohama mode”, and said that after having this experience, Taiwan will adhere to “stringent procedures,” regardless the Taiwan nationals stranded in Wuhan or other affected areas. Considering the distrust between the DPP and CCP, one would like to know if raising the “Yokohama Mode” in negotiation will facilitate the return of Taiwanese businessmen in Wuhan?
If the Tsai administration genuinely adheres to the principle that “epidemic prevention is not politics”, it should speed up the negotiation with the mainland to get Taiwanese compatriots in the epidemic-affected areas to return as soon as possible. Some people have suggested that alternate charter flights by each side of the Strait may resolve an impasse.
In any case, it is a matter of life-and-death. Since there is a “Yokohama mode,” why can’t there be a “Wuhan mode”?
From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200222003744-262103
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Companion Effects of Epidemic and Fake News
By Su Herng
United Daily News, February 22, 2020
The coronavirus epidemic outbreak has become worse, so as fake news. Although everyone is so confident that he or she will not be deceived by the fake news, a latest British research has found that about 40 percent of British believe in at least one type of "conspiracy theory."
As soon as the novel coronavirus disease broke out in China’s Wuhan, it is widely rumored that the said virus was a bio-chemical weapon manufactured by the Chinese government which sought to cause an epidemic worldwide; any kind of rumor spread really faster than the coronavirus.
Although the
New York Times and the
Scientific American have repeatedly refuted the rumor, clarifying that according to a university research, it is without evidence and is completely untrue. But many people are deeply convinced.
Even recently, on Fox News, which is sympathetic to U.S. President Donald Trump, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas openly alleged that the coronavirus sourced from a "well -guarded" bio-chemical laboratory in Wuhan. It was widely spread due to the fact that lab was unable to control this bio-chemical weapons. This allegation has initially circulated through the
Daily Mail, a British tabloid and the
Washington Times. Moreover, President Trump’s election hero Bannon even invited a reporter from the
Washington Times on the “War Room: Epidemic” program. The interviewee talked a lot about bio-chemical weapons then.
The coronavirus outbreak spread from central China to the whole world, killing more than 2,000 people. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the coronavirus circulated without regard to race and national origin. However, many social media groups, and even a few online chat groups with a large number of intellectuals, often post messages to the effect that eating onions or garlic would result in low probability of suffering from Wuhan pneumonia, and that drinking Indian milk tea can help detoxify the body…All of these are fake news, which we find ridiculous.
Why does the fake news spread so quickly and widely? In addition to the uneasiness with the coronavirus among Taiwanese people, one of the culprits is the media, especially some electronic media and social media. In a bid to increase the ratings or the click-through rates, the media would break the news that can be dubious or even unbelievable itself. Moreover, whether they are politicians, Internet celebrities, or even Elmer Gantry, they have taken a free ride.
A recent study published by Dartmouth College and another university in Spain found that the more people felt panic, the more they oversimplified the causality. They are even apt to misunderstand messages. These two universities had surveyed the public's interpretation of the Zika virus and found that if the respondents were too scared, they would even question the statements made by the director-general of the WHO.
If the public is misled by rumors on the social platform, not only would rumors distort the significance of self-protection and health care behaviors, but also the public would take greater risk. Loss of life may result.
In addition, less transparent information, together with self-contradictory official statements, is hotbed of rumors. Just like the government engaged many medical doctors to overwhelmingly promote "healthy people don't wear masks", but they didn't say why? "When we face asymptomatic infectious virus, why don’t we wear a face mask to defend ourselves?" With the slogan "I am a doctor, just listen to me", it is rather difficult to dispel the doubts that " Do we really run short of face masks?"
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States recently included Taiwan on its list of destinations with an apparent community spread of the coronavirus, Taiwanese officials just said no to the" fake news". Who are the people to trust?
Fake news spreads like a real virus. Encountering the media is like encountering the best "host". The coronavirus epidemic and the fake news were originally accompanied by each other. Fake news also evolves like some viruses, with versions 2.0 and 3.0. Just as we would always fight the virus, so do we always fight fake news.
(The author is a professor of journalism at National Chengchi University.)
From: https://udn.com/news/story/7340/4362131
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February 17: In order to prevent contagion of the novel coronavirus, the Central Epidemic Command Center announced that the scope of inspections will be extended to three types of subjects: (1) those who have traveled abroad in the past 14 days and have fever or respiratory symptoms, (2) patients with respiratory symptoms and clustered infection from foreign fever cases, and (3) patients with pneumonia without a specific cause but meeting specific conditions.
February 21: Primary and secondary schools, as well as some universities, will commence classes on Tuesday, February 25. The Ministry of Education has set standards for suspending class. For high schools and under, a class shall be canceled if a student or instructor is diagnosed with coronavirus symptoms. A school shall suspend all its classes with more than two students or instructors diagnosed with the coronavirus. A district or township shall close all its school if one-third of all schools within the district or township are closed.
February 21: In response to the impact of the coronavirus, the Executive Yuan approved a special draft bill to significantly increase penalties. A quarantined individual who wanders in violation of the rules will be fined NT$1 million (about US$32,800), raised from NT$300,000 (about NT$9,861). An individual diagnosed or suspected of suffering from severe special infectious pneumonia who travels illegally on public transportation or appears in a public venue may be punished by imprisonment of two years or less, detention, or a fine of less than NT$2 million (about US$65,700).
February 21: A research team of Academia Sinica announced the successful replication of a new 100-mg grade therapeutic drug “Remdesivir” for the novel coronavirus, with a purity of 97 percent. The seven-member research team is led by Associate Researcher Chein Rong-Jie in the Institute of Chemistry. Following the direction of Academia Sinica President James Liao and existing literature, the team researched and successfully replicated the drug within two weeks. The drug may be mass-produced directly in Taiwan through technical licensing.
February 22: The coronavirus epidemic has spread in South Korea and Japan. Taiwan announced raising the tourism warning for Japan and South Korea to the second level of “Alert.” Tourists are advised to take additional protective measures when traveling there. Related tours may be cancelled, with a maximum cancellation fee of 5 percent. Taiwan is not ruling out border controls. The number of confirmed cases in South Korea surged 229 cases on February 22 and 123 cases on February 23, totaling 556 cases. Of these, 75 cases are related to the Shincheonji, Church of Jesus.
February 23: The 21-day quarantine for Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers elapsed on February 21. Taiwan sent a special China Airlines flight to Haneda Airport in Japan to escort the 19 Taiwanese passengers back to Taiwan, as well as a Taiwanese physician previously sent to Japan, and the group arrived the same evening. The 19 passengers tested negative after two inspections, and they are to be sent to a quarantine station for 14 days. Baggage will also be segregated for 14 days before it can be retrieved.
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Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation and Association of Foreign Relations that provides coverage and perspectives into the latest developments in Taiwan.
The conclusions and recommendations of any
Taiwan Weekly article are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the institutions that publish the newsletter.
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