TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has shot down the notion of a Lunar New Year (LNY) bubble for Taiwanese businesspeople returning from China because of the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in that country.
As the LNY holiday approaches, Taiwanese businesspeople have complained that they still have to undergo 14 days of quarantine when they return home from China. When they go back to China, they will have to quarantine for another 14 days, thus almost an entire month is lost.
Some in the Taiwanese business community have been lobbying the government for a special "Spring Festival bubble" that would allow Taiwanese businesspeople to have a substantially shortened quarantine, such as the business bubble that existed before the new global surge in COVID-19 cases and rise of new strains forced its discontinuation.
In an interview with Hit FM, Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said he would never consider such a bubble. Exasperated, he asked: "Isn't everyone aware of the epidemic situation in China?"
Chen said that judging from the reports of new cases coming out of China, the rate of infection is accelerating rapidly. He said what he is concerned about is the speed at which the virus is spreading and the traffic restrictions the Chinese authorities have put in place.
He said the situation in Hebei Province is very similar to the situation in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic. Chen pointed out that some cities in the province are in complete lockdown now.
The CECC head said that quarantines in some parts of China consist of 14 days of centralized quarantine plus seven days of home quarantine. Other areas have raised it to 14 days of centralized quarantine and 14 days at home.
From these measures, it can be deduced that the epidemic situation in Hebei is "actually very serious," said Chen. During a press conference on Thursday (Jan. 15), the CECC said Hebei and Heilongjiang are at particular risk of spreading the virus.
This week, 22 million people in the two provinces have been ordered to stay home indefinitely. This is double the number of people placed under lockdown in Wuhan a year ago.
Videos have again begun surfacing showing Chinese officials welding apartment building doors shut to ensure the occupants stay inside, much like in Wuhan early last year.
Listen to what this citizen says as he watches the CCP weld people inside their homes.
— Things China Doesn't Want You To Know (@TruthAbtChina) January 13, 2021
Special thanks to follower @Williamreborn2 for the input on this tweet.
January 12, 2021
Guxiang Street, Xiangfang District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province pic.twitter.com/7BrE8WYQFp
The CCP is welding people inside their apartments again.
— Things China Doesn't Want You To Know (@TruthAbtChina) January 11, 2021
January 11, 2020
Liaodongwan Street, Bayuquan District, Yingkou City, Liaoning Province pic.twitter.com/9UPn1esrkt
Happening again. #CCP style lockdown
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) January 3, 2021
in Jinzhou, Dalian, China. #ccpvirus #covid_19 大連金
州。封死你們。 pic.twitter.com/yx4yz1zVM6
I wonder: what would happen if one of the major news networks reported all the videos from the past week showing the CCP locking people in their homes without access to food or medicine? pic.twitter.com/NEtceWgV8T
— Things China Doesn't Want You To Know (@TruthAbtChina) January 12, 2021