Taiwan to ease dining curbs
Taiwan extended its soft lockdown while easing some of its Covid curbs as the government weighs the need to revive the domestic economy against risks posed by the global spread of the Delta variant.
Sporting venues such as gyms and golf courses, along with national parks, scenic areas, museums and cinemas, will be allowed to reopen from Tuesday, the Central Epidemic Command Center said. Restaurants, night markets and food courts can host socially distanced customers. But bars and swimming pools will stay closed, and people must continue to wear masks in public.
There were just 18 newly confirmed domestic cases yesterday, the lowest number since May 13, according to Taiwan Centers for Disease Control data, as the soft lockdown measures succeeded in curbing the island’s worst outbreak of Covid-19.
“We have had fewer than 10 cases from unknown sources on four days over the past week, and about three cluster infections in the community,” Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said at Thursday’s briefing. “We are on the verge of being able to lower the Covid alert level. That’s why we need to be more careful and keep it at the current level, while easing some measures.”
While easing certain measures, the government extended the so-called level 3 alert to July 26, with indoor family and social gatherings limited to five people and outdoor ones to 10. Under the curbs, which have been in place since May 19, schools and recreational facilities including bars have been shut, and restaurants were only allowed to serve takeout.
Heath authorities are remaining cautious after a handful of infections of the delta variant were reported, a strain that has complicated the UK’s reopening and forced some countries to reimpose curbs.
“We are not ready to downgrade the Covid-19 alert level yet despite the local outbreak being under control,” cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said at briefing yesterday. But as the number of new cases has dropped from its peak in May, “it’s necessary to ease some controls to give industries like domestic consumption and services a breather”.
The restrictions are hurting retail spending and threatening jobs, even as the broader economy expanded 8.92% from a year earlier in the first quarter, the fastest pace in over a decade, on exports of semiconductors and other high-value products.
Restaurant and dining industry revenue slumped 19.1% in May from a year earlier, according to the economics ministry.