Thread by @WilliamYang120

Breaking: #Taiwan reported 302 local #COVID19, and 331 delayed cases. There are 633 cases.

New Taipei: 152, Taipei: 87, Taoyuan; 21 Keelung: 13 Taichung 9 Hsinchu 4 The rest are 2, and Hualien and Chiayi 1.

The delayed cases: Taipei: 221, New Taipei: 102

Among the 663: Wanhua: 209 Tea parlor: 35

Unidentifiable sources: 122

There are 11 new deaths, the highest single-day death number. 7 have chronic disease history and 7 have Wanhua contact history.

Most of the delayed-reported cases over the last five days are still concentrated in the epicenter #Taipei City and New Taipei City.

There is no major height of the outbreak after adjusting the result, and the highest single-day number of cases remains May 17.

Whether the outbreak's trend has improved or not, it still remains to be seen. Hong Kong has been adjusted to low-risk region, and Vietnam is removed from low-risk nation's list.

Chen said based on the expert's opinion and feedback, the level three alert has somewhat paid off but he said #Taiwan needs to keep reducing chances of contact. Anyone without a mask outdoor will be penalized and any businesses that are illegally operating will also be fined.

He said there are still businesses secretly operating and if any of those that have been caught is still operating, the owners, the consumers, and staff will all be penalizing.

All restaurants can only serve takeaway but no dine-in. Chen is calling on citizens to buy more every time they go to supermarkets and they will increase control of the number of people in supermarkets.

Marriage banquets and religious activities are all banned. He said these are very obvious occasions for possible cluster infection across the world.

He said the government will try their best to penalize those who fail to wear masks outdoor and those who are working outdoor all day, including construction workers, delivery workers. If they don't have a place to eat, they need to eat at a open space and follow the ...

... social distance rules. Those who are scheduled to get married need to cancel their banquets. Funerals will cancel group gathering as well.

Chen said now police and firefighters will be prioritized for vaccination and the CECC will also deploy protective gears for police and firefighters to wear.

Chen said schools can't force those who originally live in dormitories to leave and go home during the level three alert.

Individuals with dementia who were penalized for failing to wear masks can use evidence to appeal the penalty.

The CECC said only a few cases with allergic reactions to AZ will be allowed to take a different brand of vaccine. They said this hasn't really been widely executed or planned yet.

Chen said there needs to be more scientific evidence and expert analysis in order for mixed vaccination to be approved.

Experts said the British variant is more contagious but the severity of the symptoms didn't really improve. The death rate is still higher among older citizens.

Chen said the government will discuss with the ministry of economic affairs of how to adjust the work schedule or related things for different industries.

He said in the future, it will become a more common situation for those who are tested positive but with mild symptoms to quarantine at home.

Chen said the government is trying its best to ensure that the vaccine rationing will be properly planned to avoid the situation of lack of vaccines.

Chen said the medical capacity in Taipei and New Taipei is tight but it isn't completely falling apart. The indicators to consider the available medical capacity include those on ventilators or the available quarantine spaces.

About 6.9% of the patients have serious symptoms.

Chen said Christensen's comment has no direct relations to how Washington is going to decide the rationing of the #COVID19 vaccines that they are going to give out.

Chen said any vaccines or medications that need to come into #Taiwan need to go through an official process of inspection so he called on local governments to follow the health authorities' regulations and protocols.

He reiterated that vaccines will still be rationed by the central authorities, rather than letting local authorities to make their own decisions.

Medical staff and frontline workers with high exposures to #COVID19 patients will need to be able to be vaccinated in the upcoming batch of the AZ vaccine, according to Chen.

He said tomorrow, 150,000 vaccines will be distributed across #Taiwan.

Chen said self-paid #COVID19 vaccination will have to wait for a while. Those who need to be vaccinated for the second dosage will also need to wait until it's their time to get vaccinated. He said the number of vaccines is still limited so it needs to be prioritized for ...

... those who are of high risk of contracting #COVID19.

Chen reiterated again that he is expecting maybe #Taiwan could reach a much higher vaccination rate by September and he reiterated once again that by August, Taiwan could have received 10 million doses of #COVID19 vaccine in total.

Chen has coughed multiple times today.....

Alright, another end of the presser. The main point is Chen responding to the call for authorizing the import of #China's vaccines, saying that #Taiwan may potentially be interested in the BNT vaccines that #China hasn't approved but won't be dared to use the China-...

... manufactured vaccines. That's it. See you all tomorrow.

Btw, I feel bad for my roommate @taiwanadam as he lives right across from my room so he is forced to listen through the whole presser with me at 2 pm every day.