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TAIPEI: Major Taiwanese cities have cut back on New Year’s Eve events and are telling people to watch fireworks and other festivities at home, following the island’s first case of the highly infectious variant of the coronavirus originally discovered in Britain.
Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention measures, including quarantines for every arrival from abroad, with 800 confirmed cases, including seven deaths, almost all imported.
But the government has been nervous about its first national broadcast since April, confirmed this month, and the first case of the British variant, announced on Wednesday (December 30). He confirmed a second case on Thursday.
All three people are isolated in the hospital.
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The cities of Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung, Taoyuan, Chiayi and Keelung said Wednesday night that they would cancel public attendance at events such as fireworks displays and asked people to watch it at home online and on television.
However, the Taipei city government said Thursday that people could still watch the events live, the highlight of which is the fireworks from outside Taipei 101, once briefly the tallest building in the world. .
But it has capped attendance at the main viewing site alongside the city government at 40,000, half of the 80,000 it had originally planned, and attendees must register their personal details and wear masks.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je defended the move not to cancel the activities, saying that Taiwan had no community broadcasting and that all the correct precautions were being taken.
“Don’t be defeated by irrational fear,” he told reporters.
READ: Keep calm, says Taiwan after first local COVID-19 case in 8 months
The traditional New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony at the presidential office would also be restricted to officials and guests due to “the latest pandemic situation,” he said.
The unusually low temperatures in subtropical Taiwan would likely have kept most people indoors in any case, with snow on the high mountain passes.
Low temperatures of 6 degrees Celsius have been forecast for Taipei on New Year’s Eve.
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