title: Tighter vehicle fuel rules aim to curb air pollution

content_text:
CARCINOGENS:
 The maximum limits for sulfur in ship and aircraft fuel are to be lowered, while the levels of two compounds in gasoline and diesel would also fall

All ships, commercial aircraft and road vehicles would have to follow stricter rules for fuel from July as part of efforts to reduce sulfur oxides and carcinogenic pollutants to improve air quality, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

The combustion of fuel containing sulfur and hydrogen produces sulfur oxides and hydrocarbons, causing air pollution, acid rain and smog, Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Meng-yu (蔡孟裕) told a news conference in Taipei.

To curb pollution from land, sea and airborne vehicles, the EPA has tightened regulations on fuel for ships and aircraft, as well as gasoline and diesel for road vehicles, he said.

Environmental Protection Administration Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Tsai Meng-yu points to a beaker of marine fuel oil with sulfur content of 0.5 percentat a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: Lo Chi, Taipei Times

From July, all ships must use fuel with a sulfur content of less than 0.5 percent, instead of the current 3.5 percent, Tsai said.

Since last year, the Commercial Port Act (商港法) has required the nation’s vessels operating on international routes to use fuel with a sulfur content of less than 0.5 percent, which has reduced sulfur dioxide levels by 29 percent in Keelung and 45 percent in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) from 2018, Tsai said.

After the new rule covering all ships goes into effect, it would eliminate an estimated 5,229 tonnes of sulfur dioxide emissions in a year, while sulfur dioxide levels in Keelung and Siaogang are expected to drop a further 9 percent and 16 percent respectively from last year’s levels, he said.

While Taiwan is not a member state of the International Maritime Organization, it is voluntarily observing the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, which helps improve air quality and allows domestic ports to remain competitive globally, he added.

Commercial aircraft would be required to use fuel with no more than 0.2 percent sulfur content, less than the current 0.3 percent limit imposed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tsai said, adding that military aircraft are not covered by the EPA’s rule.

The limit for benzene in gasoline is to be reduced from 1 percent to 0.9 percent, while the maximum allowed level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in diesel would be tightened from 11 percent to 8 percent, Tsai said.

Benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are carcinogens that affect human health and the environment, he said.

By the time the new rules go into effect, all gas stations run by CPC Corp, Taiwan and Formosa Plastics Group are to provide qualified fuel products, the EPA said, urging people not to use fuel from unknown sources.

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content_text:
By Chen Hung-ju
and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

As spring is the high season for the spread of pollen, a veterinarian warned that flowers in the daisy family most easily trigger hay fever in dogs and said that the best method of prevention is to “keep them away from those plants.”

The plants include annual ragweed, dahlia, chrysanthemum and the common sunflower, Taipei-based Pet ’N’ Care Veterinary Hospital director Hung Jui-lung (洪瑞隆) said on Tuesday, adding that Bermuda grass, which is commonly found in parks or golf courses, is also a risk factor, but easily ignored by pet owners.

Pollen contains allergens that cause canine hay fever when they come into contact with a dog’s airway or skin, he said.

Cosmos flowers bloom under the Crescent Bridge in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District on Monday.
 Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City High Riverbank Construction Management Office

Short-haired dogs are more likely to develop an allergic response than those with long hair, as short hair offers less protection to the surface of the skin, he added.

Dog breeds commonly found in Taiwan that often develop canine hay fever are Dalmatians, Schnauzers, poodles and mixed-breed black dogs, Hung said, adding that breeds common in other nations that easily develop the condition include golden retrievers and Samoyeds.

Purebred dogs, such as terriers, are also more prone to developing hay fever due to fewer mutations in their genes, he said.

Genetic factors play a part, he added, citing as an example sporadic cases of shiba inus developing hay fever, even though the breed as a whole is less affected by the condition.

Unlike in Japan, where spring is the peak season for canine hay fever, the condition can occur in Taiwan at any time, Hung said, adding that common symptoms of hay fever in dogs include a runny nose, conjunctivitis and irritated eyes, as well as irritation and redness around the mouth.

Noting that canine hay fever, flea disease and dermatitis have similar symptoms, Hung said that if a dog develops symptoms after a walk in the park that a bath and flea medicine do not alleviate, the chance that it is canine hay fever is high.

People who suspect their dog might have developed hay fever should give their pet a thorough bath, which should significantly alleviate the symptoms, as pollen caught in the coat should be washed off, he said.

The bath should be followed up with medication and a shot at a veterinary clinic, which usually relieve symptoms in one to two hours, he added.

The best method to prevent hay fever is to keep dogs away from allergens, which are prevalent in parks, garden shops and flower markets, Hung said, adding that dogs can also wear a jacket to reduce their exposure to pollen.

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title: Keep dogs from flowers to avoid allergens: vet


content_text:
By Chien Hui-ju and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

Starting today, travelers can buy masks at the nation’s international airports, with each person allowed to purchase a pack of three adult-size or five child-size masks for NT$50, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.

As travelers without masks could pose a risk to the spread of COVID-19, they can buy them by presenting their passports, boarding passes or other travel documents at duty-free shops inside the nation’s international airports, said Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center.

For Taiwanese or foreigners with residency permits, purchases at airports would be logged into the government’s mask rationing database to prevent repeat purchases at local drugstores and pharmacies within a week, he said.

A batch of masks manufactured by domestic companies using new production lines are pictured in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: CNA

Duty-free shops would not make a profit from selling the requisitioned masks, because all gains would go to the government, he said, thanking duty-free shop operators — including Tasa Meng Group, Ever Rich DFS Corp, Ritzy Vision Co and Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corp — for contributing to disease-prevention efforts.

The quantity of masks supplied to each airport would depend on the number of arrivals, with the tentative weekly ration set at 70,000 adult packets and 10,000 children packets for Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport; 2,000 adult packets and 200 children packets for Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport); 1,500 adult packets and 200 children packets for Taichung International Airport; 500 adult packets and 50 children packets for Tainan Airport; and 3,600 adult packets and 200 children packets for Kaohsiung International Airport, he said.

In related news, Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders’ Association chairman Hsu Wen-hsien (許文憲) yesterday said that delivery of equipment for 32 additional mask production lines should be completed soon.

Hsu made the comments while inspecting the latest batch of equipment delivered by New Taipei City-based Chang Hong Machinery Co.

He said that Chang Hong is assembling 15 of the 32 lines, while NCM Nonwoven Converting Machinery Co, also based in New Taipei City, is in charge of the other 17.

To date, NCM has completed 13 mask production lines, with equipment for the final four remaining lines expected to be delivered by next week, he said.

To meet surging demand for masks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs on March 5 announced that it would build 32 additional production lines, with delivery of the equipment expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The decision came after the Executive Yuan last month approved a plan to build 60 production lines to resolve a shortage of masks.

“Even if they operate at just 80 percent capacity, the 92 lines would be able to produce 9 million masks per day, which would be sufficient for domestic demand,” Hsu said.

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title: Virus outbreak: Masks to go on sale at airports: Chen


content_text:
Virus outbreak: Thousands return home to escape worst of outbreak

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday experienced an influx of Taiwanese returning from Europe and the US, many of whom said they had returned despite higher ticket prices as they are concerned about family members amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between 5am and 7am yesterday, 17 flights landed at the airport carrying 2,400 passengers, many of them from Australia and the US, Taoyuan International Airport Corp data showed.

The attire of some of the arriving passengers — masks, goggles and some with full biohazard suits — demonstrated the severity of the pandemic in the nations in which they originated, the airport company said.

A Taiwanese studying abroad, center, arrives at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in protective clothing yesterday.
 Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

A returning Taiwanese student from the US said that he had returned due to his family’s concern about the US government’s handling of the pandemic and the relative safety of Taiwan.

Another student, surnamed Lin (林), said that the airfare had doubled to NT$40,000, but he felt much safer in Taiwan and his studies would not suffer, as his courses have mostly been moved online.

A student returning from San Francisco surnamed Huang (黃) said that she had purchased a biohazard suit and would not take it off until she had left the airport.

In related news, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that the government is looking into measures that would allow parents to send masks to their children abroad, but added that they are not yet ready for implementation.

Su was responding to a query about the matter from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.

“Perhaps parents could send masks to the nation’s representative offices,” Wen said.

While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is providing its overseas staff and their dependents with masks, it would be difficult for representative offices to dispense masks to Taiwanese students or tourists, Su said.

The difficulties are twofold, as restricted supply makes it questionable whether the government would be able to provide a steady supply of masks to overseas offices, while the size of the nation could also reduce accessibility, Su said.

Taiwanese would be able to purchase masks to mail to relatives overseas, but the policy is still in the planning phase, he said.

While daily production of masks has exceeded 10 million, some must be prioritized for medical personnel and those who must frequent hospitals, as well as police officers and transport workers, he added.

Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po

people: 溫玉霞 蘇貞昌


title: Virus outbreak: Cities look to add ‘quarantine hotels’

content_text:
NO ROOM AT INN:
 Taiwanese were urged to undergo quarantine at home, with subsidies and discounts being offered to family members who move to a hotel

The Taipei and New Taipei City governments are in talks with a number of hotels with a view to them becoming “quarantine hotels” housing those required to undergo quarantine, as the four hotels in the program are fully booked following the introduction of new border controls implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taipei Department of Information and Tourism Commissioner Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) said the city’s three existing “quarantine hotels” are fully booked and the government is in talks with other hotel operators to encourage them to join the initiative.

The New Taipei City Government said that its “quarantine hotel” is also fully booked and it is looking to sign contracts with more hotels to meet increased demand.

The two cities said the rising demand was due to the government’s announcement that, starting on Thursday, all incoming passengers, whether Taiwanese or foreign nationals, would be required to remain in quarantine for 14 days, regardless of where they arrive from, as part of disease-prevention efforts.

Residents who are required to undergo quarantine are encouraged to do so at home, the New Taipei City Government said in a statement on Thursday.

If individuals are concerned that staying at home could expose their family members to the risk of infection, both governments said that they would offer subsidies and discounts to family members who stay at a hotel during the 14-day quarantine period.

Taipei is offering a maximum NT$7,000 subsidy for family members who stay at a hotel, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) has said.

The New Taipei City Government said it would ask hotels to offer families a 50 to 70 percent discount if a family member is under compulsory quarantine.

The two cities last month initiated a “quarantine hotel” project to house individuals who are required to undergo quarantine, but do not have a place to stay or who do not want to stay in their own home.

Operators who wish their establishment to become a “quarantine hotel” have to pass screenings by the local health authority.

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content_text:
Virus outbreak: ‘Electronic fence’ leads global wave of monitoring tools

The government, which has won global praise for its effective action against COVID-19, is rolling out a mobile phone-based “electronic fence” that uses location tracking to ensure people who are quarantined stay at home.

Governments worldwide are combining technology and human effort to enforce quarantines that require people who have been exposed to COVID-19 to stay at home, but Taiwan’s system is believed to be the first to use phone-tracking for the purpose.

“The goal is to stop people from running around and spreading the infection,” said Department of Cyber Security Director Jyan Hong-wei (簡宏偉), who is leading efforts to work with the nation’s telecoms to combat the coronavirus.

The system monitors phone signals to alert police and local officials if those in quarantine move away from their home or turn off their phone.

The authorities would contact or visit those who trigger an alert within 15 minutes, Jyan said.

Officials also call those quarantined twice a day to ensure they do not avoid being tracked by leaving their phone at home.

Those who break their quarantine can be fined up to NT$1 million (US$33,001).

Privacy concerns have limited the use of location data for disease-prevention efforts in nations such as the US, but the system has drawn few complaints in Taiwan, which had reported only 135 virus cases as of yesterday.

However, it has drawn some complaints for its intrusiveness.

“It’s creepy that the government is teaming up with telecoms to track our phones,” said a flight attendant in Taipei, who was put under 14-day quarantine after returning from Europe earlier this month.

The flight attendant said that she was admonished by a local administrator after failing to pick up a phone call in the morning when she was asleep.

“They said the police would come if I missed another phone call,” she said.

Many Asian nations are struggling to prevent a surge of infections from people who have returned from overseas, especially Europe.

In Hong Kong, location-tracking wristbands are given to those under quarantine.

In Singapore, the government uses text messages to contact people, who must click on a link to prove that they are at home.

Thailand has rolled out a mobile app that anyone arriving at an airport must download to help monitor where they have been in the event that they test positive for COVID-19.

Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, this week launched a mobile app to help track coronavirus cases and said that it could be used to enforce quarantine.

Other countries, such as South Korea and Israel, are using satellite-based tracking to conduct so-called “contact tracing” to identify where an infected individual might have passed the virus to others.

China has used a wide range of methods to monitor the health and whereabouts of people, and enforce restrictions on their movement.

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content_text:
Virus outbreak: Three facing prosecution for spreading fake news

Judicial authorities yesterday took three men into custody for questioning in connection with a spate of panic buying at some supermarkets.

The Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) said that two of those detained are cousins — one man surnamed Tsai (蔡), 46, and another surnamed Chang (張), 38, both of Taipei — and the other man is the director of a cultural promotion organization registered in New Taipei City.

The panic buying was sparked by a message posted on Tuesday on Professional Technology Temple, the nation’s most popular electronic bulletin board system, which was then disseminated to other social media platforms.

Criminal Investigation Bureau Telecommunications Investigation Corp Deputy Captain Chen Chiung-chao speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday alongside a slide showing disinformation posted online that urged the public to stockpile food and daily necessities, as well as to withdraw all the money from their bank account.
 Photo: CNA

“I have received some important information that people should prepare to stockpile enough food and daily necessities to last for one month, while they should also immediately go to the bank and withdraw all their money,” the message said.

Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officer Chen Chiung-chao (陳炯昭) said that the post was traced to Chang, who read it on a family message group on Line after it was posted by Tsai.

Tsai said that he posted the message on Line after reading an article on a blog, which the CIB traced to the director of the cultural promotion organization, also surnamed Chang (張).

When questioned, the cousins said that they circulated the message to their family and friends as a way of reminding them about a serious situation and that it was not done with malevolence.

They posted it on other Line groups to initiate discussion and exchange opinions on the matter, they said.

After taking statements from the three men and reviewing the evidence, MJIB Fake News Prevention and Control Center deputy head Liu Chia-jung (劉家榮) said the three men would be charged for contravening the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) and Article 125-1 of the Banking Act (銀行法).

“The MJIB will continue to investigate this case, to determine if there are foreign sources involved in spreading this fake news, since it aimed to manipulate people’s fear and anxiety over the coronavirus outbreak, to cause disruption to the supply of goods and sow disorder in society,” Liu said. “We urge the public not to disseminate fake news and disinformation, as perpetrators will face criminal prosecution.”

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title: China holds lending benchmark, but easing likely

content_text:
ADJUSTED EXPECTATIONS:
 Investment banks downgraded their forecasts for the Chinese economy, with Goldman Sachs expecting the first quarter to contract 9 percent

China yesterday kept a benchmark lending rate unchanged, defying expectations for a reduction with the economy jolted by the COVID-19 pandemic, although policymakers would likely need to loosen lending rates soon to free up funds.

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was left unchanged at 4.05 percent from the previous monthly fixing, while the five-year LPR remained at 4.75 percent.

The surprise helped prop up the yuan against the US dollar, following heavy selling this week, as the interest rate gap between China and the US remained wide, following the US Federal Reserve’s surprise policy easing last weekend.

A majority of traders and analysts in a Reuters poll had expected the rate, which is used to price new loans, to come down given the massive coordinated stimulus unleashed by global central banks this week.

It did not suggest that authorities are broadly comfortable with the current policy settings for now, analysts said, after the central bank last week cut the amount of reserves commercial banks are required to hold.

However, many see the need for more policy easing soon as economic risks grow.

“The lack of any cut this month means that the LPR is still only 10 basis points lower than it was at the end of last year, following a small cut in February,” Capital Economics senior China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard said in a note.

“But with the economy unlikely to get back on track until next year, further monetary easing will be needed to help address the continued strain on corporate and households balance sheets,” he said.

The virus crisis has gradually stabilized in mainland China with no new domestic transmissions reported on Thursday for the first time, raising hopes that strict containment efforts to stop the spread of the virus are working.

However, the situation overseas remains concerning.

Major global investment banks and institutions downgraded their forecasts for the Chinese economy. Goldman Sachs cut its estimate for first quarter GDP to a year-on-year contraction of 9 percent from a previous forecast of 2.5 percent growth.

The LPR is a lending reference rate set monthly by 18 banks. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) revamped the mechanism to price LPR in August last year, loosely pegging it to the medium-term lending facility rate (MLF).

The central bank left borrowing cost on its one-year MLF loans unchanged on Monday, which would ordinarily suggest the LPR would similarly remain unchanged.

However, investors and economists saw the wave of global rate cuts and liquidity measures this week as adding pressure for China to do likewise, which is why many had expected an LPR cut.

BNP Paribas senior China economist Jacqueline Rong said that while banks face pressure from authorities to provide credit to struggling businesses, they are unlikely to lower rates unless properly incentivized.

“Commercial banks already face higher pressure to lower borrowing costs for virus-hit firms and support smaller business this year,” she said. “Actively lowering LPR would inevitably give themselves more burden.”

That suggests the PBOC would need to cut the MLF soon to allow banks to lower their lending rates accordingly.

“We expect the central bank could lower MLF rate by 10 basis points in April,” Founder Securities chief economist Yan Se said. “And if fluctuations in the stock market pick up further, we can’t rule out chances for a reverse repo rate cut.”

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title: FA extends soccer season ‘indefinitely’

content_text:
RULES ALTERED:
 Organizers said that they were united in a commitment to finding ways to resume the season, and ensuring all matches are played as soon as it is safe

English soccer authorities on Thursday reached an agreement to extend the season “indefinitely” in an effort to complete all competitions disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As well as announcing that the professional game in England is to remain suspended until at least April 30, the Football Association (FA) and the Premier League said they were waiving a regulation that says the domestic season has to finish by June 1.

“We are united in our commitment to finding ways of resuming the 2019-20 football season, and ensuring all domestic and European club league and cup matches are played as soon as it is safe and possible to do so,” the organizations that run English soccer said.

The commitment boosted the likelihood of Liverpool winning their first league title in 30 years.

The Reds lead the Premier League by 25 points and needed only two more wins from their final nine games to clinch the title before the virus outbreak caused the suspension of all soccer in the country.

English soccer on Friday last week was initially suspended until April 4, although that period always seemed likely to be extended — especially after the British government this week advised against mass gatherings amid the pandemic.

There was no mention of the possibility of playing games in empty stadiums to speed up the completion of the season and potentially satisfy broadcast partners.

However, that prospect was raised in a statement released by Manchester United.

The club announced a goodwill gesture to its casual workforce amid the virus outbreak.

“Manchester United will pay all its loyal matchday and non-matchday casual workers, should Premier League games be canceled or played behind closed doors for the remainder of this season,” the club said.

An added complication for soccer in general is the fact that many employment agreements between players and clubs, sponsorship contracts, and broadcasting agreements expire on June 30.

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title: US made Iran ‘self-sufficent’

content_text:
TUMULTUOUS YEAR:
 The Iranian supreme leader said that the country benefited from US sanctions and that the hardships made Iranians self-sufficient in all sectors

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a live speech on state TV for the start of the Persian New Year holiday, yesterday said that US sanctions have forced the country to become self-sufficient as he called on Iranians to preserve unity.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have increased since 2018 when US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six nations and reimposed sanctions on the country, crippling its economy.

“Iran benefited from America’s sanctions. It made us self-sufficient in all areas,” said Khamenei, who looked healthy despite rumors that he had contracted COVID-19.

On Wednesday, officials close to Khamenei denied the rumors.

US sanctions, combined with pandemic’s economic impact, have bitten deeply into Iran’s economy, causing a price spiral and a slump in the value of the rial.

Iranian officials have blamed the sanctions for hampering Tehran’s efforts to contain the speedy spread of the virus across the country.

On March 9, Khamenei’s office announced that his annual speech in the city of Mashhad for the Persian New Year holiday had been canceled to prevent further COVID-19 cases in the Middle East’s worst-affected country.

“Last year was a tumultuous year for the Iranian nation. It was a year that began with the floods and that ended with the coronavirus ... but we will overcome all hardships with unity,” Khamenei said.

He named the new Iranian year “The year of boosting production.”

In a separate message for the Iranian New Year Nowruz, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Iranians would overcome the pandemic with unity, praising doctors and nurses for their courage in fighting the disease.

“Our nation has managed to reach its goals, despite difficulties... Iran will overcome the coronavirus with unity,” Rouhani said in his televised speech.

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content_text:
Whenever people walked by the overgrown bowling green in Johannesburg’s working-class Bertrams neighborhood, they saw an eyesore, but Refiloe Molefe saw a chance to feed her community.

The 60-year-old former nurse has been farming on the 500m2 bowling green for more than a decade, after she asked the city for food for the nursery that she was running for 15 children.

The authorities had none to give her, so she requested the land to grow her own instead.

“We might not have money, but we have land and food — and to garden here is our therapy,” Molefe said, crushing a piece of rosemary between her fingers before smelling the leaves and smiling.

Seed by seed, Johannesburg — a city known for high crime levels and rapid urbanization — is becoming home to a crop of urban farmers fighting concrete to grow fruit and vegetables so that they can feed their families and neighbors.

The UN estimates that two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, up from 56 percent today.

Africa is the continent that is urbanizing the fastest, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Johannesburg, with a population of more than 4.4 million according to the most recent census data, has grown nearly 40 percent since the previous census in 2001.

“There are people from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria and Malawi here. We have the opportunity to grow food together, to live together and to eat together,” Molefe said. “But we need land to do this.”

There are about 300 urban farms in Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Government spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said.

“More are sprouting up,” food security researcher Brittany Kesselman said. “We are seeing farms in schools, churches, clinics, rooftops and backyards.”

“It is a challenge, but urban farmers are bravely fighting hunger in Johannesburg,” added Kesselman, who is also a raw food chef.

More than 40 percent of Johannesburg households are food insecure, meaning that they are unable to access affordable and nutritious food, urban development think tank the South African Cities Network said.

Urban green spaces can bring substantial benefits to cities, including cooling the outside air, filtering pollution, providing refuge from noise and reducing depression, anxiety and stress, the WHO said.

For Molefe, her garden is also where she nurtures a community.

On a single day, she was visited by a chef cooking with organic produce, a Kenyan woman whose husband asks specifically for Molefe’s fresh vegetables and two students returning from a trance party where they sold Molefe’s vegetable juices.

Students from the nearby universities also popped in and out, some to farm and others to collect vegetables.

“Our students are so hungry,” Molefe said. “How can they study if they are hungry?”

Any excess produce she puts in a vehicle — along with expired, but edible food collected from supermarkets by a local charity — and drives around the city handing out food to the homeless.

Molefe has hit some obstacles: crops destroyed by hailstorms, the occasional theft of her equipment and funding challenges.

Each time, she has been able to buy new seeds and tools with the help of prize money from various awards, including one given to her by European food company Nestle.

Through all of the challenges, it is her garden that gets her up every day.

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title: Urban gardens take root in Johannesburg neighborhood


content_text:
The US Federal Reserve has set up a program to exchange US dollars for foreign currency with nine central banks to support dollar lending in global markets that are under pressure from the effects of COVID-19.

The move, announced on Thursday, enables foreign banks to provide US dollars to their banks that sometimes lend and trade in US currency.

It is the latest effort by the Fed to smooth the functioning of financial markets, as investors, banks and companies rush to stockpile cash amid plunging stock markets and a sharply slowing economy.

A woman pays cash while wearing gloves during special hours open only to seniors and the disabled at Northgate Gonzalez Market, a Hispanic specialty supermarket, in Los Angeles on Thursday.
 Photo: AFP

Late on Wednesday, the Fed also reactivated its third lending facility dating from the financial crisis intended to provide more cash to banks in the form of short-term loans.

The currency swaps are capped at US$60 billion for six central banks in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea and Sweden. The exchange lines are capped at US$30 billion for central banks in Denmark, Norway and New Zealand.

Under the swaps, the Fed provides dollars for an equal amount of foreign currency, which it can also use in short-term lending to banks if needed.

The Fed already maintains such currency exchanges with five other central banks, including the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of Canada.

The Fed also announced its third emergency lending program to provide money to banks that purchase financial assets from money market mutual funds, including short-term IOUs known as commercial paper.

By facilitating the purchase of commercial paper, which is issued by large businesses and banks, the Fed hopes to spur more lending to firms that are seeking to raise cash as their revenues plummet amid the spread of the coronavirus.

This facility, known as the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, is intended to help money market funds unload assets such as commercial paper, but also US Treasury securities and bonds guaranteed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Money market mutual funds are owned by individual investors in brokerage accounts, but also by institutional investors and businesses. Many of the funds have sought in the past two weeks to sell assets to raise cash as investors redeem shares in the funds.

Yet with demand for cash rising, money market funds have struggled to find buyers for their assets.

The program was established with the support of the US Department of Treasury, which would guarantee up to US$10 billion in loans from the facility.

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title: US Fed to work with nine banks on currency swaps


content_text:
Nearly one-third of the 57 mushers in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have quit the race before finishing, including one who activated an alert seeking rescue on Thursday because of weather conditions.

Thomas Waerner of Norway won this year’s race, crossing the finish line in Nome, Alaska, on Wednesday. Eighteen other mushers had completed the race by Thursday morning, with another 20 still on the trail.

For musher Nicolas Petit, a native of France who now lives in Girdwood, Alaska, it was the third straight year he had encountered problems late in the race, including getting lost in a blizzard two years ago and his dogs quitting on him last year.

Mitch Seavey’s team reach the finish line in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome, Alaska, on Wednesday.
 Photo: AP

Petit on Thursday activated his alert button between the checkpoints of Elim and White Mountain, which is the second-to-last checkpoint in the race.

“In combination of weather and resulting trail conditions, Petit was not able to continue, and by activating his SOS, Petit scratched,” the Iditarod said in a statement.

Race marshal Mark Nordman reported that the area was experiencing a large coastal storm, which was affecting the trail.

A search and rescue team helped Petit and his dogs to a shelter cabin.

Nordman spoke to Petit on a satellite phone to confirm that the musher and his team of 11 dogs were in good condition.

Petit told him he intended to wait out the storm at the cabin, and then then mush to either Elim or White Mountain to arrange transport off the trail.

Two years ago, Petit had a healthy lead in the race until he got lost in a blizzard in another Being Sea coastal storm. He recovered to finish second.

Last year, his dogs quit running in nearly the same location as 2018. He blamed it on the dogs having a bad memory from getting lost there the year before.

This year’s race started on March 8 in Willow. Since then, 17 have voluntarily withdrawn form the race and one was removed for not being competitive.

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title: Iditarod mushers face woes on the trail


content_text:
A study released last week by National Taiwan Normal University found that most Taiwanese elementary-school graduates knew enough English words to read an article in the language. About 75 percent of those tested knew a minimum of 300 English words, which the national elementary-school curriculum deems sufficient for listening, speaking and reading in the language, the researchers said.

However, while a vocabulary this size might be sufficient for reading simple texts, students learning English at this rate would be hard pressed to become bilingual — a stated goal of the government — by adulthood.

An article published by the US National Library of Medicine on May 11, 2016, titled “Vocabulary size and auditory word recognition in preschool children,” said that native English-speaking children could recognize 10,000 words by age five. By age 20, English-speaking adults know an average of 42,000 words, a separate article published by United Press International on Aug. 16, 2016, said, citing the findings of Belgian researchers.

Native speakers can also use these words in their proper context, form complex sentences, pronounce the phonemes and stress the syllables that make up the words in a way that is instantly recognizable by other speakers of the language. If Taiwanese university graduates are to achieve this level of fluency in English, it would require a much greater investment in the language.

To achieve bilingualism Taiwanese need an environment where English is spoken. Mandarin is the dominant language in the nation, but an effective English-language environment is still possible. The researchers spoke comparatively about the number of English-language classroom hours in Taiwan and countries such as Japan and South Korea, but this approach treats English as an afterthought.

Bilingualism can be achieved not by increasing the number of hours English is taught — which compartmentalizes the language in the same manner other subjects are — but rather by making English the language of instruction for all subjects, as well as the language of communication between students and teachers.

Naturally the government cannot simply issue a decree and have schools nationwide switch to English as a medium of instruction. Aside from being a logistical nightmare, such a move would surely cause a public uproar because of its cultural implications. One solution might be to adopt the approach used by some school districts in Canada, which have both English and French as official languages.

In some English-speaking Canadian school districts, students can choose to enter a French immersion program starting in junior-high school. In some cases both standard curricula and French immersion classes are offered at the same school, while in other districts students are required to attend a French-only school if they wish to study in French.

Introducing a publicly funded English immersion program at the junior-high school level or earlier in Taiwan would be a major expense for the government, but if it is serious about achieving bilingualism by 2030, this might be its best option. The government could seek advice from international schools regarding teaching materials or have Chinese-language teaching materials translated into English.

The program could first be tested in Taipei or in all six special municipalities, and then expanded to other cities and municipalities. The government might initially need to hire more foreign teachers for classes in English, but eventually could rely entirely on Taiwanese faculty.

Bilingualism cannot be achieved simply by adding more English-language classes at the elementary-school level or having students memorize more vocabulary. Fluency in a language requires “living in” that language. If the government is serious about Taiwan becoming a bilingual nation, it will need to offer students English immersion programs.

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title: EDITORIAL: English immersion programs needed


title: Tesla to idle plant after dispute with officials

content_text:
Tesla Inc is to idle production at its lone US assembly plant, choking off the supply of vehicles to customers as the quarter comes to a close.

The decision announced in a statement on Thursday followed several days of public pressure on Tesla by local police, city managers and health officials about the automaker continuing to run its California factory despite a county shelter-in-place order.

Tesla said the facility would stop production at the end of Monday.

A Tesla charging station in San Ramon, California, on Thursday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

“Despite taking all known health precautions, continued operations in certain locations has caused challenges for our employees, their families and our suppliers,” Tesla said in the statement.

Tesla shares fell as much as 9.7 percent in late trading. The stock had rebounded during the regular session after falling 44 percent over the course of the prior six trading days.

Last month, Tesla took advantage of its then-soaring stock by raising US$2.3 billion in an equity offering.

That sum, combined with the US$6.3 billion cash that was on the balance sheet at the end of last year, “is sufficient to successfully navigate an extended period of uncertainty,” the company said.

The company might burn through about US$300 million in cash for every week that production is suspended, Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy said in a note to clients. He rates the stock a sell.

Tesla’s solar plant in Buffalo, New York, also would suspend production. Hourly employees at both factories would receive their normal pay through Monday, and then the company would provide paid leave while operations are suspended, an internal e-mail said.

Several employees expressed relief following the announcement that the roughly 10,000 staffers at the California plant would no longer have to work in close proximity. They described a state of affairs that is common in manufacturing facilities, but worrisome at a time when local health officials are advising at least six feet of social distancing to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s the right thing for Tesla to do. They should have done this sooner,” Loup Ventures managing partner Gene Munster said. “Tesla will survive.”

Tesla said it is in the process of implementing “touchless” deliveries so that it can continue handing over vehicles to customers safely. It will park cars at a delivery lot and allow them to unlock the doors using a mobile app.

The company just started delivering its latest vehicle, the Model Y crossover, this month.

After the announcement, Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk continued a weeks-long string of tweets in which he has downplayed the severity of COVID-19.

The skepticism has not gone over well on social media. One Tesla customer urged him to repurpose Tesla’s factory to make ventilators after General Motors Co offered to do so for the White House.

“You have to stop being an idiot about this,” Raja Abbas, the CEO of a psychiatric company in Pennsylvania, wrote to Musk late on Wednesday. “This is a massive disaster. Ask the doctors in the field.”

After Musk said that he would make ventilators if there is a shortage, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the country faced a “drastic” dearth of breathing machines and the city would need thousands over the next few weeks.

The two said on Twitter that their teams would be in touch.

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title: US seeks US$3bn to boost oil producers

content_text:
A POWERFUL INDUSTRY:
 A US official said that buying more oil is a ‘commonsense move,’ but one analyst said that the government should address high unemployment

The administration of US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that it is seeking US$3 billion from the US Congress to top up the country’s strategic petroleum reserves, potentially propping up US oil producers after crude prices crashed globally.

Trump had directed the US Department of Energy last week to fill the US’ emergency stash of crude oil to the top, over objections from congressional Democrats who said he was favoring climate-damaging fossil fuels and the profits of oil giants.

Falling crude prices benefited US consumers filling up their cars, Trump said.

“But on the other hand, it hurts a great industry, and a very powerful industry,” Trump told reporters.

West Texas crude prices fell below US$21 a barrel on Wednesday after oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia stepped up pumping, threatening the market share of US oil, and as COVID-19 moved the world toward recession and tamped-down consumer demand for energy.

US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette told reporters that the move was about filling up the country’s 713.5 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a time of cheap oil, not about throwing US oil producers a lifeline in rough markets. The reserves are stashed underground in Texas and Louisiana.

“It’s a commonsense move. Everyone who’s done any personal investment knows you do your best to buy low and sell high,” Brouillette said.

Brouillette also said the US was not intervening against market forces to boost US oil prices.

Pointing to Russia and Saudi Arabia’s surge of production, he said that the purpose of the nation’s strategic oil reserves is “to mitigate this type of disruption.”

Though the oil industry’s major trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, says it does not want a government bailout, some in the industry are pushing for embargoes or tariffs.

Harold Hamm, executive chairman of Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, asked the US Department of Commerce to investigate what he contends is illegal dumping of below-cost crude oil onto the market by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

He also asked for an embargo, hoping that would halt some of the flow of cheap oil onto the market, at least in the US, saying that the two countries are trying to put US’ shale oil drillers out of business.

“It’s unfortunate that both of these countries chose — and this was an action they thought about — this particular time, while we have this global pandemic, to do something like this,” Hamm said.

Hamm has close ties to Trump, having donated to Trump’s campaign and served on a team of economic advisers.

Trump said that Saudi Arabia and Russia were “in a fight” on oil prices and output.

“And at the appropriate time, I’ll get involved,” he said, but did not say how.

Congress has to approve the money for the administration’s petroleum buy.

The administration must overcome opposition from some Democratic lawmakers.

The US has been selling down some of its reserves, so filling the reserves back up when oil is cheap makes sense, Rabobank energy strategist Ryan Fitzmaurice said.

It would not have much impact on the imbalance of supply and demand, because Saudi Arabia is ready to ramp up production by 3 million barrels per day next month.

“It’s not going to change the balance too much, and the Saudis are going to increase supply by far much more than we can buy,” Fitzmaurice said.

The US would seek to buy 30 million barrels of US-produced crude initially and a total of 77 million barrels eventually, Brouillette said.

Because the price is so low, the US will use less taxpayer money to fill up the reserves.

The question is whether, with everything else that is going on, it is a good idea to spend US$2 billion of taxpayer money, said John MacWilliams, senior fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

“I would be targeting high unemployment,” he said.

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people: 馬英九 江啟臣 連戰 蔡英文 習近平

content_text:
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) was on March 7 elected as the party’s chairman. He has yet to receive the standard congratulatory telegram from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

Chiang set the tone for his future relationship with the Chinese Communist Party when, during the swearing-in ceremony at KMT headquarters on Monday last week, he said that Taiwan should have “close relations” with the US, “peaceful relations” with China and “friendly relations” with Japan. Needless to say, it did not go down well in some quarters.

However, not only does the party desperately need to revisit its relationship with China, it also urgently needs to improve its ties with the US, which the party has allowed to wither.

From 2007 to 2008, I held a position as a visiting academic at a think tank in Washington. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was the ruling party at the time and pan-blue camp was very active in Washington.

The KMT established a KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance joint representative office in the US, which was run by former National Security Council secretary-general Jason Yuan (袁健生). There were also several senior party officials based in the city, such as Jacob Chang (張大同), and they attended all the important conferences and forums. The KMT was also able to draw on a huge amount of support from the Taiwanese-American community.

Twelve years on, I returned to Washington during the Lunar New Year holiday period and found that the tables have turned: The disparity between the pan-green and pan-blue camps’ lobbying efforts in Washington is like night and day.

The DPP has established a US representative office, the DPP US Mission, which is managed by a Washington old hand, Michael Fonte. Then there is the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, which has a presence in more than a dozen US states and is focused on lobbying the US Congress, and the Global Taiwan Institute at the Dupont Circle — home to some of Washington’s most prominent think tanks.

The DPP is even being assisted by Project 2049 Institute chairman and former US assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs Randall Schriver. The KMT, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen.

Anyone familiar with US politics knows that Washington think tanks are able to exert significant influence on government policy and legislation made by Congress. When these think tanks hold forums to discuss the political situation in Taiwan and cross-strait issues, representatives from both of Taiwan’s political camps are seen as important figures whose advice is often sought.

Absence from these forums over a long period means that their voices will carry less weight and, eventually, they may even lose their right to voice opinions.

After the KMT regained power in 2008, Yuan and Chang transferred to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US and became Taiwan’s representative and deputy representative to the US respectively. With their appointments, the party began to consider whether it should continue operating a parallel representative office in the US. One consideration was cost.

The expense of running the KMT-PFP joint office was split down the middle between the two parties, and the KMT’s portion was funded personally by then-party chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

Another problem was finding qualified people, as qualified candidates were unwilling to take on the role. When the relationship between the KMT and PFP changed, then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) decided to disband the party’s representative office.

In contrast, with the debacle of then-DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2011 visit to the US fresh in its memory — when a White House national security adviser briefed international media against Tsai during her visit — the party in 2013 established a representative office in Washington.

Fonte, who heads the office, speaks fluent Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), and is well-connected and a hard worker. His primary responsibility is to liaise with the executive branches of US government, including the Department of State, the National Security Council and the Department of Defense, but he also often speaks on behalf of the DPP at forums.

At present, the pan-blue camp only has a single, small think tank in Washington called the Institute for Taiwan-American Studies, established by a group of enthusiastic expatriate Taiwanese. The think tank has no experts and its activities pale in comparison with those of the green camp’s Global Taiwan Institute.

As for established pro-KMT organizations in Washington, they have become a disparate collection of one-man-bands, each advancing their own ideas.

The KMT has in the past few years been drifting away from Washington. This was in no small part driven by the party’s strategic shift into Beijing’s orbit, but it was also caused by many years of negligence.

The KMT’s new chairman has decided to move the party closer to the US. If he is to succeed, the party must re-engage with Washington.

Huang Ching-lung is director of the Taipei Trust in Democracy Association.

Translated by Edward Jones

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title: KMT must re-engage Washington


content_text:
The Academia Sinica on March 8 announced that Yang An-suei (楊安綏) and his team had in 19 days developed a diagnostic reagent that can identify SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — in as few as 15 minutes.

As Taiwanese celebrated the breakthrough, China claimed credit at a WHO meeting, saying that the development was the outcome of dozens of “mutual reports” between the “Chinese central government” and “the Chinese province of Taiwan.”

APPALLING BEHAVIOR

This shameless behavior angered many Taiwanese. The Chinese Communist Party has always believed that repeating a lie a thousand times would make it true, which is particularly appalling.

Many people might think that the concept of the “Taiwan Province” ended in 1997, when the provincial government was frozen. However, any Taiwanese looking at the birthplace in their passport will see that if they were born in one of the six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — that city is given as their birthplace.

However, if they were not born in those cities, but in, for example, Keelung, Hsinchu, Chiayi, Hualien or Penghu, “Taiwan” is listed as their birthplace.

As for people born in Kinmen and Matsu, they are recorded as being born in Fujian Province, also referred to as Fukien.

Since a special municipality and a province are on the same level in the governmental structure, Taiwan and Fujian in the passport are of course references to provinces.

FROZEN PROVINCES

The administrative regions “Taiwan Province” and “Fujian Province” still exist, but without receiving a budget, they are frozen. They are in effect two corpses that remain within Taiwan’s legal framework.

The legal basis comes from Article 3 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法): “The local governments are subdivided into the provincial government and special municipalities ... the province is subdivided into counties and cities.”

So far, “Taiwan Province” has jurisdiction over the “provincial cities” Keelung, Hsinchu and Chiayi, as well as the three counties. Whenever China belittles Taiwanese by using the name “Taiwan Province,” Taiwanese cannot even shout back that there is no such place as “Taiwan Province.” This is frustrating.

The local government division is a matter of Taiwan’s domestic affairs, and the Local Government Act is domestic law, which can be reviewed and amended by the government.

The Republic of China on Taiwan is a small country with several provinces, and it is no longer appropriate to think of the scale of a province in terms of a pre-1949 map of China.

Belgium is similar in size to Taiwan, and it has 10 provinces and a capital region. Taiwan’s executive and legislative branches should think of Taiwan as a small country and design a local government structure suitable for this country.

LEGAL CHANGES

The expression “top-selling product available across the province” (全省熱賣中) often appears in advertising, describing Taiwan as a province. This is no different from the Chinese point of view.

Taiwan should amend relevant laws and regulations and restructure the counties and municipalities as “provinces,” so that the term “Taiwan Province” will finally disappear.

Allen Hertzberger lives in Germany and is the former coordinator of National Taiwan University’s women’s and gender studies program.

Translated by Lin Lee-kai

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title: Making Taiwan Province disappear


events: 死亡 COVID-19 冠狀病毒

content_text:
Italy Surpasses China in Number of COVID-19 Deaths|義死亡人數全球最多 醫療體系負荷超載

Italy reported 427 deaths due to coronavirus disease on March 19, bringing the total number of fatalities to 3,405, which has exceeded the number of China. In hard-hit northern Italy, numerous medical personnel have become infected, and the medical treatment system is at the breaking point.

Coronavirus disease 2019 has devastated northern Italy. The situation is the most critical in the city of Bergamo in the Lombardy region. Cemeteries have been unable to handle so many burials, and the military is transporting bodies to other regions for cremation. Obituaries fill the pages of newspapers, something that hasn't been seen since World War II. Hospitals and medical personnel are both at the breaking point.

We are in desperate need of both nurses and physicians, together with ventilators and devices for protection. The non-governmental organization Cesvi is helping us through fundraising based on Gofundme.

Inside the intensive care ward at a hospital in Cremona in the Lombardy region, the predominant sounds are the hiss of ventilators assisting patients in breathing and beeping machines. The ward only had 50 beds before. Now, 120 have been added, all of which are being used for COVID-19 patients, but that is still not enough. One doctor came out of retirement to help out. He says the saddest thing is not seeing patients die, but seeing them in solitude without the company of their loved ones. Around 20 percent of the hospital's medical personnel have become infected. Recent medical graduates have joined the effort.

The challenge we are facing is enormous. Even if new doctors come, our shifts will still be 12 hours long. The work is extremely difficult.

One nurse at a hospital treating serious cases in financial capital Milan says it will be hard to contain the epidemic situation, and many of her colleagues have fallen ill, making the work of all medical personnel more difficult.

We are working under a great deal of pressure, and the psychological stress is beyond belief. What is really unfortunate is that we can't control the situation in Lombardy, and the contagion is spreading rapidly. We're not even keeping track of the death toll anymore.

In Rome, the song "Ave Maria" is broadcast on city streets and many people have hung flags in their windows and balconies. They are also singing the national anthem to boost everyone's morale and paying tribute to all the hardworking medical personnel.

新型冠狀病毒肆虐義大利北部，疫情最嚴重的倫巴底大區貝加莫省，病逝者多到墓園無法負荷，派出軍車將遺體送到其他地區火化，報紙訃聞一版接一版有如二戰時期的陣亡戰報。所有醫院病床與醫護人員，負荷量都已經撐到極限。

貝加莫若望廿三世醫院醫學部長 法吉歐尼表示：「我們目前急缺護士與醫師，以及呼吸設備跟防護設備，非營利組織Cesvi，正在gofundme平台協助我們募款。」

走進倫巴底大區克雷莫納這家醫院的加護病房，呼吸器為患者送氧的聲音，儀器的嗶嗶聲讓人神經緊繃，過去院內有50張病床，如今新增120床，全都用來救治新型冠狀病毒患者，還不夠用。退休醫師帕歐魯奇被徵召回到疫情前線，他說最難過的不是看見病人死亡，而是讓他們在隔離狀況下，身邊沒半個親人，孤零零的走。院內大約兩成的醫護已經感染，剛畢業的醫生，也得立刻上陣進入情況。

剛畢業醫師 安德里歐尼表示：「我們面對的挑戰非常大，就算有新的醫師來，我們每一個班還是12小時，而且非常的艱難。」

北部金融之都米蘭，這家收治重症患者醫院的護士警告，疫情難以遏制，許多同事病倒，讓醫護工作更沉重。

米蘭醫院護士 丹妮拉表示：「我們在高壓力緊張狀態下工作，心理壓力破錶，很不幸的是，我們無法控制倫巴底的情況，疫情傳染蔓延情況很高，我們甚至不再計算死亡人數。」

醫護人員的辛苦，民眾看在眼裡，羅馬街頭播放聖母頌，民眾從窗口垂掛國旗，跟著唱起國歌提振士氣，也對醫院第一線人員致上最高敬意。


events: 死亡 冠狀病毒

content_text:
義大利疫情危急，成為全球死亡病例最多的國家，新型冠狀病毒肆虐義大利北部，疫情最嚴重的倫巴底大區貝加莫省，病逝者多到墓園無法負荷，派出軍車將遺體送到其他地區火化，報紙訃聞一版接一版，有如二戰時期的陣亡戰報，所有醫院病床與醫護人員負荷量都已經撐到極限。

貝加莫若望廿三世醫院醫學部長法吉歐尼說：「我們目前急缺護士與醫師，以及呼吸設備跟防護設備，非營利組織Cesvi正在gofundme平台協助我們募款。」

走進倫巴底大區克雷莫納這家醫院的加護病房，呼吸器為患者送氧的聲音，儀器的嗶嗶聲讓人神經緊繃，過去院內有50張病床，如今新增120床，全都用來救治新型冠狀病毒患者還不夠用。退休醫師帕歐魯奇被徵召回到疫情前線，他說最難過的不是看見病人死亡，而是讓他們在隔離狀況下，身邊沒半個親人，孤零零的走。院內大約兩成的醫護已經感染，剛畢業的醫生安德里歐尼，也得立刻上陣進入情況，他說：「我們面對的挑戰非常大，就算有新的醫師來，我們每一個班還是12小時而且非常的艱難。」

北部金融之都米蘭，這家收治重症患者醫院的護士警告，疫情難以遏制，許多同事病倒，讓醫護工作更沉重。米蘭醫院護士丹妮拉表示：「我們在高壓力緊張狀態下工作，心理壓力破錶，很不幸的是我們無法控制倫巴底的情況，疫情傳染蔓延情況很高，我們甚至不再計算死亡人數。」

醫護人員的辛苦，民眾看在眼裡，羅馬街頭播放聖母頌，民眾從窗口垂掛國旗，跟著唱起國歌提振士氣，也對醫院第一線人員致上最高敬意。

title: 義死亡人數全球最多 醫療體系負荷超載


content_text:
印度洋海水深度超過1千公尺，英國科學家現在展開史上頭一擺的科學研究，欲去探索深海內底有啥物?也要記錄地形、物種，還有整個生態系統。

英國海洋研究組織內克頓，16號將從東非的塞席爾群島出發，前往印度洋海平面以下一千到四千公尺深處，探索人類未曾觸及過的午夜區。這裡有成千上萬座巨大的海底山脈，活火山比陸地上更多更活躍，還有深海熱泉，以及海底瀑布，但人類對午夜區的了解，卻比月球還不如。科學家將用感應繪圖技術，詳實紀錄海底地貌與新物種。（翻攝自Youtube: Nekton Mission）光線照不進去的午夜區，仍然有旺盛的生命力，有的還會自體發光。

進行這次任務的兩人座小型深海潛艇，限制因素號，由九公分厚的鈦金屬板製成，可以承受海底巨大水壓，行李箱的外形配有三個廣角觀察窗，和一個機械手臂，氧氣足夠支撐96個小時。限制因素號去年完成潛入世界五大洋最深處的創舉，五月在馬里亞納海溝創下深潛10898公尺的世界紀錄，

記者施慧中 報導

title: 歷史上頭擺 英科學家探索印度洋"暝半區"

countries: 印度 英國 塞席爾


content_text:
武漢肺炎疫情延燒，桃園國際機場今天凌晨陸續有密集美、澳航線旅客返台，機場公司也加派防疫專車待命疏運。

戴上口罩還不夠，也有旅客戴上護目鏡，甚至穿上防護衣，全套防護，凌晨桃園機場陸續有美、澳航線旅客返台，有旅客在飛機上，長程飛行也不敢吃東西和喝水，就怕感染新冠狀病毒。返台旅客說：「其實我沒有在飛機上吃東西，我也沒喝水，我們兩個都沒有進食，(口罩)都沒拿下來。」、「從紐華克飛回來的，紐華克，紐澤西那邊。(記者問：從出發到回來台灣一路就是穿著這樣的防護衣？)因為我中間搭了三次航班然後才回到台灣的。」

旅客下機後必須繳交健康聲明卡等檢疫資料，等待防疫人員核實，撥通聯絡電話，開立居家檢疫通知書，才能入境通關。20號順暢許多，旅客表示上網填寫表格又比紙本更快，「因為我們一直都有關注台灣的新聞，知道說居家檢疫需要先上網填一個單子，下載一個東西，所以我們在美國就填好了，進來很快。」 「高鐵又不能搭，有巴士當然是比較好。算便宜啦，因為防疫專車(租賃車)好像要高鐵的二倍，對呀，那就蠻貴的，這才400塊。」民眾說。根據預報，桃園機場20號入境7628人、出境5716人，共13398人。機場公司加派防疫專車應變疏運，排班計程車桃機400台，松機支援100台，共500台，租賃車200台，遊覽車全日備50車次，大約等待時間30分鐘。

title: 美澳航線旅客密集返台 防疫專車待命疏運

countries: 澤西 台灣 美國

events: 武漢肺炎 冠狀病毒


content_text:
武漢肺炎的吹哨者：中國醫師李文亮，2月初過世引發關注，經過一個多月，中國公布事件調查報告，說是武漢市中南路派出所當初對李文亮處理不當，處分兩名民警，武漢市公安局也道歉，不過有網友認為這樣根本沒誠意。
 中國武漢醫院眼科醫生李文亮，去年12月30號透過微信揭發武漢肺炎疫情，之後遭院方約談、還被公安警告被迫簽下訓誡書，承認在網路發布不實言論，他在一月確診感染後，2月初去世，被視為是吹哨者，也引發中國對於言論自由的關注，中國國家監察委員經過一個多月的調查，19號公布報告，表示武漢市中南路派出所對李文亮出具訓誡書作為不當，調查組已建議湖北省武漢市監察機關對此事進行監督糾正。 武漢市公安局也在微博表示，向當事人家屬鄭重道歉，同時對副所長處以行政記過處分，出具訓誡書的民警則是被行政警告，不過中國官媒新華社報導引用了監委調查組人員說法，將李文亮定調為「疫情防控中英勇奮戰、作出貢獻和犧牲的醫務人員隊伍中的一員」，為他平反，不過卻特別指出一些敵對勢力要給他貼上英雄、覺醒者等標籤，是完全不符合事實的，強調李文亮是共產黨員，不是所謂的「反體制人物」，這樣的說法和調查結果也引發了網友怒火。

有網友評論寫道：「醫院領導呢？衛健委呢？」也有人質疑這樣的調查結果「需要四十幾天才調查完嗎？唬弄老百姓呢」，還有人諷刺說，「敷衍不是為了平息你的怒火，敷衍是在告訴你：你的憤怒一錢不值，毫無意義。」

而目前中國疫情根據官方說法已經趨緩，20號公布的最新數據，新增39例但都是境外移入，本土維持新增0確診的狀態，但是網友也上網爆出疫情最新狀況，包括19號拍攝到武漢協和醫院外有長長的排隊隊伍，還指出武漢仍然在秘密建設方艙醫院，各地的復工狀況也不像是官方說的那麼理想。 (0320晚間更新) 網友認為是為各級官員卸責，外媒也認為調查結果是避重就輕，李文亮所屬的武漢中心醫院，20號上午又再添一人感染新冠病毒死亡，是醫院倫理委員會成員劉勵，他太太則是醫院肝膽胰外科主任，截至目前武漢中心醫院已有5人因感染死亡，另外四名都是醫生，包括李文亮、朱和平、梅仲明及江學慶，另外還有幾名醫生目前狀況危急。

title: 武漢肺炎吹哨者 李文亮事件調查報告公布

events: 武漢肺炎 新冠病毒 死亡


content_text:
美國紐約州疫情嚴重，最近一日確診4152例，其中將近4千例都在紐約市、26死。市長白思豪提出醫療器材的需求，並批評美國總統川普沒下令供應醫療物資。

美國重災區紐約市已有超過5百名病患住院，其中將近180名病患在加護病房救治；該市本週每兩天確診人數就翻倍上升。17號晚間923例，18號就暴增到1871例。紐約市長白思豪重砲批評總統川普，防疫未施鐵腕，行事猶豫：「我只對川普總統說這些話，你完全沒有施展鐵腕，這是我們國家這個世代所面臨最緊急的情況，抗疫行動要傾巢而出，我們需要300萬個N95口罩，我們需要5千萬個手術口罩，我們需要1萬5千個呼吸器，如果我們要的這些物資要及時生產出來，讓我們的醫療院所使用，只有一個組織能保證做得到，那就是我們的美國國軍，川普總統何時才要下命令這是我的疑問，為什麼他猶豫了？很顯然這完全不能接受。」

（圖／美聯社） 為了加強掌控疫情的力道，紐約市將「預約檢疫」的模式，擴大到10家即時照護醫院、7所社區健康中心，並增設4個「得來速檢疫站」。紐約州全境超過4千確診病例，已有近8百例住院，該州因這波疫情的住院率為19%。紐約州州長柯莫，雖然不認同紐約封州，但為了避免感染持續擴散，19號提升工作人力管控，要求紐約75%的勞工必須在家工作。柯莫表示：「我今天將提高密度的控制，勞動力不能超過25%，也就是說75%的人必須在家工作。」

紐約一家著名的起司蛋糕店經歷過二戰與911攻擊事件，但這波疫情衝擊，使得原本850名員工，有650人因生意不好而沒工作可做，老闆只好宣布無限期歇業，但仍會支付員工健康保險；他也相信這一切都會過去，紐約會重新站起，他的店也是。

title: 紐約州疫情嚴峻確診急增 紐約市成重災區


content_text:
北部某高中因校內已有2名感染武漢肺炎的案例，全校從今天開始停課到3月27日。台北市各級學校的家長會與教師會上午疾呼，校園防疫必須再升級，重新檢討停課標準。

2名學生確診，全校20日起停課到27日，北部某高中成為這波疫情以來全校停課首例。由於學校本來就是社區的一部分，校園裡學生密度又高，不少家長越來越擔憂。台北市高中學生家長會聯合會總會長蕭錦戎說：「我們家長都非常憂心也非常焦慮，甚至有很多家長都不敢讓孩子去上學，我們很多遠距教學都還不是做得非常確實。」

每天和學生近距離接觸的老師也會怕，而且假若老師不慎感染，也可能傳給學生，並影響教學台北市各級學校家長會，全中教與台北市教師會疾呼校園防疫再升級。包括師生每週每人五枚口罩配送到校，千人以上的大校，立即購置紅外線熱像儀。

全中教秘書長許麗吉表示：「研議儘快配送紅外線熱像儀，像這樣的機器不應該有不同縣市不同步調，不能夠有國立跟縣市立的學校的問題，也不能有公私立的問題(差別)。」

國教署專門委員詹雅惠表示：「我們在3月17號這禮拜二已經用最快的速度公文核定，各縣市政府高中以下一千人以上的學校，每個學校有15萬的經費可以去購置紅外線熱顯像儀，或者是其他的防疫的設備的物資，所以我們總共補助了1054校。」

如何減緩校園疫情傳播，未來兩週相當關鍵，家長和教師團體認為，提升防疫配備並且檢討停課標準，國教署回應，會把建議帶回部內，並反映給指揮中心進行全面討論。

title: 北部某高中2學生確診 全校停課至3/27


taiwan-subdivisions: 琉球 樹林

title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
A: What else is there to do on Siaoliouciou Island except snorkeling?

B: There are lots of caves to explore and also primeval forests. Also, there is the island’s most famous landmark: Vase Rock. It’s a strangely shaped rock, formed over many years due to erosion by the sea.

A: Ah, I know. I’ve seen photographs of it before, but to my eyes, it looks more like a piece of broccoli.

A: 在小琉球除了浮潛，還可以做什麼呢？

B: 有很多洞窟可以探險，也有原生樹林。另外，還有島上最著名的地標：花瓶石。那是一塊形狀很怪奇的大石頭，因為多年來海水侵蝕作用而形成。

A: 啊，我知道，我有看過花瓶石的照片。不過依我看來，它更像一朵綠花椰菜。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: K-pop precursor re-emerges to newfound popularity

content_text:
Thirty years ago his floppy hair, makeup and flamboyant fashion sense outraged audiences, who threw stones at him as he performed on stage and threatened to beat him at shows.

Today, 50-year-old Korean-American singer Yang Joon-il is enjoying an unlikely comeback, rediscovered by the YouTube and social media generation through online clips and hailed as a forerunner to today’s K-pop stars.

The K-pop industry is now estimated to generate US$5 billion per year and many of its male stars are celebrated at home and abroad for their gender fluidity, while Yang — who was once shunned for exactly that — is often compared to current idol G-Dragon, lead of hugely popular band BIGBANG.

Singer Yang Joon-il, right, performs in a recording session for a TV channel music show in Seoul on Saturday last week.
 Photo: AFP

Standing in front of a 2,000-strong crowd at an appearance in Seoul, the middle-aged singer felt speechless as they cheered: he had never experienced such mass adoration.

“There are no words to describe what that moment was like. I felt like I could not breathe,” Yang told reporters.

He was “extremely surprised” by his newfound popularity, he said.

“I’d like to ask them: ‘Why do you like me?’” he added.

It was a marked contrast from his early music career. In the early 1990s, South Korea was emerging from decades of military rule, but a nascent cultural renaissance had yet to influence social values and neither his appearance nor performance style conformed to South Korean norms of the time.

Nationalist sentiment was widespread and his culture-crossing background — he was born in Vietnam to South Korean parents who later emigrated to the US — was unwelcome.

He was once banned from radio shows for speaking English on air and a civil servant told him that “people like you take away jobs from us Koreans.”

Yang made a few appearances on the nation’s top pop TV shows — displaying moves that would not be out of place in a K-pop video today — but struggled to find mainstream appeal as many found his approach too “effeminate” and “foreign.”

“I just felt that [South] Korea and I were incompatible,” Yang said. “The audience felt very distant, so whenever I performed I just avoided looking at them.”

Once, an audience member faked a handshake to pull him violently down to the ground from the stage, telling him: “You need a beating.”

Fans remember being ridiculed for supporting him.

“At karaoke bars, people would just turn off the machine when his music played,” Yi Duk-jin said. “People said he was too weird, too strange. He spoke English, wore earrings and had long hair, despite being a man.”

Yang quickly faded into obscurity, working as an English teacher until he moved to the US in 2015.

He struggled to make ends meet with a wife and toddler son to support, saying that he felt suicidal until he secured a job as waiter in Florida, working 14 hours per day.

Keung Yoon Bae, who researches film and media at Harvard, said that Yang first emerged at a time when “an explosion of Korean pop had to coexist with a still-conservative social climate.”

Within a few years of Yang’s brief moment in the spotlight, emerging stars including Seo Taeji and Boys, a band considered as innovators who marked the start of modern K-pop, were laying the ground for its expansion to global popularity, now epitomized by septet BTS.

“I didn’t really think I was ahead of my time,” Yang said.

However, University of California, Berkeley sociology professor John Lie disagrees, calling Yang a “pioneering public figure of non-macho, almost gender-bending presentation of self.”

Yang’s big break came three decades after he first began performing.

In 2018, South Korean TV stations started streaming long-archived pop TV shows on YouTube, and millennials — many not even born when he made his debut — discovered him.

Word spread until it was picked up by mainstream media, and in December last year he made his comeback TV appearance, pulling off his signature new jack swing-inspired dance steps.

The singer’s rise to fame has come amid mounting intergenerational conflict in South Korea.

South Koreans now in their 50s and 60s worked for and benefited from rapid economic growth and value endurance and conformity, but many in their 20s and 30s refer to themselves as members of the sampo, or “three sacrifice,” generation — forced to give up marriages, relationships and children in the face of intense job competition and expensive housing in the country’s cutthroat economy.

“Before discovering Yang, I’d never met anyone in their 50s who made me think: ‘Wow, that person is cool, that’s how I want to be like 20 or 30 years from now,’” said Lee Young-jun, a 35-year-old YouTuber who creates fan content about Yang. “But Yang is different.”

Tamar Herman, a K-pop correspondent for Billboard, said that fans are looking “nostalgically at the past.”

Bringing “hidden gems” like Yang to light “gives audiences a sense that they can change the past at a time when changing the present is hard,” she added.

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references: Facebook Twitter

title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
RUSSIA

Virus vaccines tested

Scientists have begun testing potential COVID-19 vaccines on animals in a laboratory in Siberia, the consumer health regulator said yesterday. Scientists in the Vektor State Virology and Biotechnology Center in Novosibirsk have developed vaccine prototypes based on six different technological platforms, and began tests on Monday to try to work out how effective they are, the regulator said. “Most often, laboratory mice and rats are used for such studies. Ferrets, lower primates and other special lines of laboratory animals are also used.” Scientists expect it to be possible to start providing a vaccine in the last quarter of the year, the regulator added.

GERMANY

Raids target banned group

Authorities on Thursday conducted raids in 10 states at premises linked to a group accused of pursuing a mix of anti-government and racist ideology. Minister of the Interior, Building and Community Horst Seehofer issued a ban on United German Peoples and Tribes, an organization that rejects the authority of the state. The ministry said that about 400 police officers had seized firearms, propaganda material and small amounts of drugs during the raids on the homes of 21 leading members of the group. “We are dealing with a group that distributes racist and anti-Semitic writings, and in doing so systematically poisons our free society,” Seehofer said in a statement.

EUROPEAN UNION

Netflix to reduce traffic

Netflix Inc has agreed to reduce its streaming traffic in Europe by about 25 percent for the next month, an attempt to relieve networks strained by the COVID-19 pandemic. The move follows discussions between European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton and Netflix chief executive officer Reed Hastings. “Netflix has decided to begin reducing bit rates across all our streams in Europe,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. “We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25 percent.” The amount of time people spent streaming spiked by more than 20 percent worldwide last weekend.

BRAZIL

President’s son angers PRC

The son of President Jair Bolsonaro has joined US President Donald Trump in criticizing China over the spread of COVID-19, prompting demands from Beijing for an apology. Eduardo Bolsonaro, a 35-year-old lawmaker, on Tuesday accused China of concealing information about the spread of COVID-19, saying its actions were similar to what “the Soviet dictatorship” did during the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. “Once again, a dictatorship preferred to hide something serious to avoid criticism, when it could have saved countless lives,” he wrote on Twitter. “China is guilty and freedom would be the solution.” Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Yang Wanming (楊萬明) demanded an apology from the lawmaker on Twitter.

UNITED STATES

County to test all residents

With COVID-19 testing still a shambles, one county in Colorado has decided to take matters into its own hands. Public health officials in San Miguel County have teamed up with biotech company United Biomedical Inc to collect blood samples for a COVID-19 antibody test and provide free screenings to all 8,200 residents. “We are in the middle of nowhere, 65 miles [105km] from a hospital,” San Miguel County Public Health Medical Officer Sharon Grundy said. “You have to learn how to be self-sufficient.”

NEW ZEALAND

Testing shows biggest surge

The nation has recorded its biggest single-day increase of COVID-19 cases, with 11 new positive tests. There were no cases of community transmission, health officials said, urging residents to self-isolate if they fear they are a risk to the community. The number of cases has jumped in line with a huge surge of testing. Until Monday, only 524 tests had been conducted during the entire pandemic. This week, health officials increased testing rates to about 1,000 per day, with more testing centers being opened in the major centers, especially Auckland. The government expects the overall number to continue to grow as tens of thousands of citizens return home.

UNITED STATES

‘Miracle’ calf born to sea cow

A pregnant cow who swam 6.4km to shore after being swept away by Hurricane Dorian in September last year has given birth to a “miracle” calf. A photograph of the “sea calf” was posted on Monday on Facebook by Ranch Solutions, a group hired to return the pregnant cow back home to North Carolina’s Cedar Island. The cow, named “Dori,” was one of three swept away by Dorian that were found in the state’s Outer Banks, the Charlotte Observer reported. When Hurricane Dorian generated a 2m “mini tsunami,” it washed the calf’s mother and dozens of other animals away, including 28 wild horses that died.

QATAR

Virus hits migrant workers

The nation’s old industrial zone has emerged as a hot spot for the coronavirus, putting at risk many migrant workers who live and work in the area of car service centers, warehouses and small shops. The government on Thursday reported eight more infections to take its tally to 460, the highest number among the Persian Gulf states. Government spokeswoman Lulwa Rashed al-Khater told a news conference that the new cases included two Qataris who had been in Europe, with the rest migrant workers. The country relies on about 2 million migrant workers for the bulk of its labor force, mainly from Asian countries.

KENYA

Roses destroyed over virus

The nation’s flower industry, the largest exporter of blooms to Europe, is staring at a “disaster” if disruptions caused by the pandemic continue for just two months. Farms are exporting only 20 percent of the 54 tonnes of cut flowers that they would normally send daily to eurozone markets, Kenya Flower Council CEO Clement Tulezi said. The rest are “being destroyed,” Tulezi said in an interview on Thursday in Nairobi. “There is no demand in Europe. Almost the entire market has collapsed. Technically, our industry is on lockdown.”

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title: Virus Outbreak: Coronavirus fear reaches deep into Amazon

content_text:
Located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, a week’s trip upriver by boat, Carauari is not a place that is easy to reach, but the spreading global panic over the COVID-19 pandemic has arrived.

A colorful collection of stilt houses scattered along the massive, brown meanders of the Jurua River in western Brazil, Carauari is technically a municipality.

However, its 29,000 residents are spread out over 26,000km2, mostly on the western bank of the river, a tributary of the Amazon.

A woman takes out her bicycle in Carauari, Brazil, on Monday. Amazonas state has declared an emergency that includes a ban on outsiders visiting indigenous reserves.
 Photo: AFP

It is one of the most remote towns on Earth, with no roads connecting it to the outside world.

The only way to get to Carauari is a three-hour flight from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, or a boat trip that takes seven days, first up the Amazon and then the Jurua.

For weeks, COVID-19 was a far-away thing people in Carauari heard about on the news, but then the first case was confirmed in Manaus on Friday last week and the panic that has swept from Wuhan, China, to Europe and the US arrived in the heart of the jungle, waking old traumas in a place that has a devastating history with diseases brought in from the outside world.

“Now they’re saying they don’t want to let anyone leave here for Manaus, or let anyone from Manaus come here, so they won’t bring in the disease,” resident Raimunda da Silva dos Santos said from the door of her house near the river port. “I was born here in Carauari, I’ve lived here all my life. I turned 80 in January, and I can tell you, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Like the rest of the world, Carauari residents are now obsessed with protecting their community from COVID-19, Jose Barbosa das Gracas, 52, said.

“We’re doing everything we can. Washing our hands to prevent it, like they say on TV,” he said. “We’re just praying to God not to bring this epidemic here.”

The local government is keen to keep the coronavirus away, since it is as hard to get out of Carauari — including for emergency medical care — as it is to get in.

The town hospital only has 50 beds.

“The logistical difficulty of accessing the town is an advantage for us for now, in that it minimizes the risk of an infected person arriving, but it also means we’ll have more difficulty transporting patients out if we need to,” hospital director Manoel Brito said.

The town on Tuesday launched health checkpoints to screen passengers arriving by plane and boat, on the orders of Carauari Mayor Bruno Luiz Litaif Ramalho.

However, the new restrictions have raised fears that Carauari would be even more cut off from the outside world than before.

Residents’ lives depend on the goods that arrive by boat from Manaus — medicine, food, industrial products — anything they do not produce themselves.

“It’s going to be hard to survive” if boat traffic is affected, said Luciano da Silva, 32, a fisherman, as he unloaded equipment from his wooden canoe along the banks of the Jurua. “We depend on those boats.”

The coronavirus is especially worrying for indigenous communities in the Amazon. For them, contact with the outside world has often meant death from foreign diseases.

It is a long, painful history that goes back to the first European colonizers, who wiped out an estimated 95 percent of the population of the Americas, mostly through diseases such as smallpox.

Amazonas state has declared an emergency that includes a temporary ban on outsiders visiting indigenous reserves, while the national indigenous association has canceled meetings and assemblies to avoid gathering groups of people.

Many communities are worried about the potential impact of the coronavirus, which they have only limited information about, said Maria Cordeiro Bare, a leader of the Bare people, who live along the Rio Negro, another Amazon tributary.

“The situation is very delicate for indigenous peoples,” Bare, 40, said in Manaus. “Whether it’s COVID-19 or other diseases that we hadn’t been exposed to, they threaten our health and our lives.”

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Virus Outbreak: US virus lockdowns see proliferation of curbside beer sales

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, but with COVID-19 popping up all over the US a trip to your favorite bar is not in the offing. So breweries are stepping up, offering curbside growlers to stave off the grumbling.

Amid the growing coronavirus pandemic, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper on Tuesday issued an executive order closing all restaurants and bars, except for takeout, but instead of grumbling, Tar Heels are growling.

A number of other US states have put similar measures in place, but where one door shuts, another door may open, and breweries are finding that is a car door.

White Street Brewery in downtown Wake Forest is offering curbside service for people who bring in growler bottles to be filled with their signature tap beers. They also offer two-pint cans called “crowlers.”

Manager Rene Betancourt said that the gesture is the brewery’s way of showing appreciation for its customers, while helping to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“Beer isn’t a necessity, but beer is a social thing,” Betancourt said. “So, the fact that we’re having to distance ourselves from each other, and those opportunities are being taken away, I think that is affecting a lot of people.”

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as a fever and cough, and the vast majority recover in several weeks, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause severe illness, including pneumonia.

To help customers make up for some of the fun they are missing from prohibited bar gatherings — and to give a boost to flagging business — Austin Beerworks in Texas posted online a photograph of brightly colored cans and bottles stacked up at a new makeshift drive-through.

“In accordance with new rules, our taproom is now only able to offer Beer-To-Go,” the brewery said on Twiiter. “We set up a drive through tent and are working on preordering online.”

“The brewery/tasting room may be closed for on premise fun; however, you can head on over to #wolfcreekscv for drive through 6-packs, merch, and some delicious food,” Wolf Creek Brewery in Valencia, California, tweeted.

Meanwhile, beer drinkers in Alabama rejoiced when the state on Tuesday issued an emergency rule allowing curbside sales of unopened alcohol at restaurants and bars.

The move came after Alabama shut down 78 state-run liquor stores.

In Wake Forest, chiropodist Jim Judge usually visits White Street Brewery a couple of times a week. So, he popped in to pick up three crowlers to take home.

“Beer is up there with whiskey — which I can’t get here,” Judge said when asked where beer ranked on his list of necessities.

“Absolutely above toilet paper right now. Without a doubt,” he said.

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Virus Outbreak: Bon appetit: Parisians plan to eat their way through the coronavirus lockdown

The streets might be empty, with police stopping those who dare to venture outside, but COVID-19 is leaving the French art of eating well unscathed.

“A nice cut of quality beef, some goat’s cheese and a good wine,” said civil servant Cyrille, contemplating his lunch as he lined up in the sun outside the Bellevilloise butcher shop in eastern Paris.

“La vie est belle [life is good],” he said with a smile of his forced holiday, all the sweeter since he can eat on his balcony now spring has come early to the French capital.

Trips out to buy food are among the few exceptions permitted during the tight lockdown — and the food-loving French are taking full advantage.

The small bakeries, cheese shops, delicatessens and charcuteries that dot French high streets have been doing a roaring trade since the nation went into lockdown on Tuesday.

The pandemic is no excuse not to live well, was the message from the nation of gourmets.

With restaurants closed, social media is abuzz with people sharing images of the sumptuous meals they have prepared at home, as well as recipes for using up all the ingredients they had panic bought.

Comedian Jeremstar said that he was looking forward to putting on 29kg during his confinement.

Despite the shutdown, some things are sacred.

Bernadette Jeanpierre could not contemplate life without fresh baguettes.

She starts her day by getting one from her local boulangerie and picks up another still warm from the oven in the evening, she said as she waited in line outside with her grandson, observing the strict 2m social distancing.

She was aghast at the thought of buying a supermarket loaf that might last a few days.

“I would rather die. That is not bread,” she said.

With only “essential” food outlets and pharmacies allowed to stay open, there has been heated debate about whether wine shops are indispensable for civilized French life to continue.

While many have shut, some cavistes (wine shop managers), like Cecile Mezzanotte of Cavavin at Malakoff on the southern edge of Paris, say that they are providing an essential service.

“My customers are really happy that I have stayed open,” albeit with reduced hours, Mezzanotte said.

“I really feel it’s helping... I can see their pleasure when they see I’m open, it brings a little bit of joy and laughter back” in these difficult times, she said.

To limit the chance of infection, Mezzanotte asks customers not to touch the bottles and accepts only contactless credit card payments.

Several greengrocers have imposed a similar policy.

Wine merchant Sandrine Chaneac in the well-heeled southeastern suburb of Saint-Mande was letting only one customer at a time into her shop for the same reason, while saying it would be wrong to deprive people of good wine, especially in a time of crisis.

“Cavistes and their customers have a special relationship of trust” which builds up over the years, Chaneac said, adding that people from other nations might not fully appreciate the bond.

“I know their tastes, and I can suggest interesting wines that will please and surprise them even on a budget,” she said.

Yet there were signs on Thursday that the insouciance might be fraying as people begin to realize that the lockdown could be lengthy.

“Yesterday, they were lining up around the block here,” customer Selim Akkoc said at a halal butcher shop in Couronnes. “Today, I walked straight in. There is no one.”

The Chez l’Auvergnat cheese shop a few kilometers away was preparing to batten down the hatches for a prolonged shutdown.

“We are going to close up once we have sold the stock,” fromageur Mickael said. “People have bought enough to keep them going for weeks, and there are fewer and fewer people around every day.”

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title: World Business Quick Take

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GERMANY

Government mulls more aid

Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz yesterday said the government could potentially take stakes in companies to boost their capital and offset the effects of COVID-19. Germany has already pledged to lend as much as 550 billion euros (US$589.9 billion) through state-owned development bank KfW to help struggling firms. If necessary, it could also buy holdings using a fund set up to deal with the financial crisis a decade ago, he said. “We used something similar in 2008 to 2009, although that was focused on the banking sector,” Scholz told Deutschlandfunk radio. “It could very well be that a company suddenly has a shortage of liquidity, and we are trying to address that with our liquidity program.” The government could purchase a stake in Deutsche Lufthansa AG — which said on Thursday it would stop 95 percent of flights — as part of a rescue, a person familiar with the plan said last week.

United Kingdom

BOE cuts rates to 0.1%

The Bank of England (BOE) cut interest rates to a record 0.1 percent and added ￡200 billion (US$235 billion) to its asset-purchase program in its latest emergency action to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The central bank lowered rates by 15 basis points and boost its quantitative easing target to ￡645 billion. That increase would mainly be made up of extra gilt purchases, but would also include corporate buying, and would be completed as soon as possible. BOE Governor Andrew Bailey told reporters in a conference call that it was right to act now, rather than wait for more data. He said the actions reflected the unprecedented nature of the crisis. The central bank still has more in the tank, he said.

AUTOMAKERS

Volvo closing more plants

Swedish carmaker Volvo is suspending production at its factories in Sweden, the US and Belgium, to curb the spread of the coronavirus, it said yesterday, even as it resumes manufacturing in China where the infection rate has slowed. Volvo’s Swedish factories in Torslanda, Skovde, Olofstrom, and its US plant in South Carolina are to close between Thursday next week and April 14, the company said. Its plant in Ghent, Belgium, has already been temporarily shut. “Our primary concerns are the health of our employees and the future of our business,” chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said. “I think for the economy, we need to do something drastic, rather than trying half-hearted measures that drag on forever.”

HOTELS

Demand at record low

Demand for hotel rooms is at record lows, the company behind InterContinental and Holiday Inn hotels said yesterday, as it announced US$150 million of cost cuts to help cope with travel restrictions and lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel and leisure businesses have been among the worst hit by the virus outbreak, with hundreds of billions of US dollars in business trips and holidays canceled as countries impose draconian restrictions to try to curb its spread. InterContinental Hotels Group said that it expected the revenue it earns globally from hotel rooms to fall by about 60 percent this month, with steeper declines in markets that have gone into lockdown. It said that cancelations for next month and May, and current booking trends, pointed to continued challenging conditions, but added it had begun to reopen hotels in China, where the virus emerged.

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