Taiwan approves $20 billion in new spending to deal with Covid-19 impact

TAIPEI • Taiwan's new Covid-19 infections have decreased and the outbreak can be controlled, the Health Minister said, as he urged the public to follow restrictions, which will stay in place in the coming weeks.

The island reported 347 domestic Covid-19 cases yesterday, including 73 cases added to the totals for recent days, as it continues to readjust its infection numbers amid delays in reporting positive tests.

That marked the second consecutive day in which new cases were below 400, after a rare uptick in domestic cases concentrated in Taipei and its nearby cities.

The increase in cases, which peaked this month, prompted the government to tighten curbs, including banning in-restaurant dining and gatherings.

"The pandemic is heading towards a stage where it can be controlled," Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a daily news briefing, saying new cases continued to decline.

Mr Chen said "aggressive measures" would remain in place for one to two weeks, including fines for people who do not wear face masks outside their homes and a halt to wedding banquets and wakes.

He added that more stations for rapid Covid-19 tests would be set up on Taiwan's outlying islands, where medical resources are relatively limited.

Taiwan's Parliament yesterday approved an extra NT$420 billion (S$20 billion) in stimulus spending to help the economy deal with the pandemic.

The new money is in addition to previously announced stimulus spending worth NT$420 billion, and the funding will run until June 30 next year.

The central bank is also running a separate NT$400 billion scheme to provide preferential loans to small and medium-sized business.

Taiwan's government has repeatedly sought to allay fears that the current outbreak of domestic infections will affect the export-dependent economy, a major global supplier of semiconductors.

The island is ramping up its vaccination campaign but has so far given shots to less than 2 per cent of its more than 23 million people, though millions of additional doses are on their way.

The government said on Sunday that it had signed deals with two local companies to provide up to 20 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccines.

REUTERS