Premier Su Tseng-chang on Thursday received briefings from various ministries on strategies and responses to the recent COVID-19 domestic transmission cases that prompted the government to raise Taiwan's alert level to Level 2 this week. He directed government agencies to stay on top of the latest developments, plan well ahead, and implement thorough prevention measures that will make Taiwan even stronger.
The premier also asked agencies to bolster containment measures while communicating information more swiftly and implementing stricter quarantine policies. Aside from immediately imposing preventive measures on a broader scope of people and announcing public places visited by confirmed cases, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) should instruct frontline health workers to ask every patient, right at the outset, about travel history, occupation, contact history and any clustering information.
Premier Su also asked police officers across the nation to step up investigation work and resources, especially into complicated workplaces that involve frequent contact and close interactions. The MOHW should also see to it that local health departments are fully implementing disease preventing measures, such as urging the public to maintain social distancing and wear face masks, and ensuring people leave contact information when visiting restaurants, theaters, and other places of gathering.
Equipped with ample supplies for combating COVID-19, the nation now has more masks and alcohol disinfectant than last year, the premier said. The domestic mask production capacity is up to 40 million per day with an existing inventory of 800 million masks.
Eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination is now open to members of the general public aged 65 and above. Ministries and agencies while reviewing the tasks under their jurisdictions should also encourage frontline personnel to get vaccinated, the premier said, as this not only protects themselves but their families and the wider public as well.
Each person could be a potential carrier or recipient of the coronavirus, Premier Su said, so the 23.58 million people of Taiwan are key to how the outbreaks will play out. Each person has the potential to be at the start, or the end, of a chain of transmission. The premier urged everyone to do their part and comply with disease prevention measures to help stem the infection outbreaks.