TAIWAN - World’s Longest Coronavirus-Free Streak
Authorities in Taiwan, which has led the world in covid-19 containment, said they would roll back foreign flights and tighten quarantine requirements for crew members after identifying the first locally transmitted coronavirus case since April, stemming from a cargo pilot who flew routes abroad, including to the United States.
The reports of a single new case and its particulars—the pilot, a New Zealander, was said to have been coughing during his last flight but did not wear a mask at all times—immediately sparked public consternation as they snapped the island’s record without a domestic transmission. The 253-day streak had been a point of pride for Taiwan’s 23 million people and its leaders.
“Wear your masks well and let’s not fumble this now, especially when we’re in a period with a mutation that’s transmitting fast,” Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said, showing a flash of frustration. “We need to have stricter controls for pilots. Our measures weren’t actually being implemented.”
The pilot was fined about $10,000 for “covering up symptoms, contacts, and places visited while sick,” the spokeswoman for President Tsai Ing-wen said on Twitter. “The mood is alert, serious. Personal accountability is key.”
Since the start of the pandemic, Taiwan has reported 771 cases and seven deaths.
-www.washingtonpost.com, 22 December 2020
Arno's commentary
One more item of proof to adhere to instructions as given by medical science.
From our staff in Switzerland, we received word that services in the approximately 800-seat auditorium can only be occupied by less than 100, and reservations are necessary.
Granted, many of the precautions seem exaggerated (and probably are), but one cannot argue in the face of the extreme success in nearly eradicating Covid-19 in countries such as Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and several others that strictly abide by the rule of law.
The Scripture’s admonition, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” is answered by the Lord’s promise: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
