《TAIPEI TIMES》 CECC changes news conference rules to reduce contagion risk, set example

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center （CECC） yesterday said that it would reduce the number of people attending its news conferences and seat reporters farther apart to set an example for COVID-19 prevention at such gatherings.

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The center said that it holds daily news conferences that are attended by about 120 to 150 people in a space of about 48 ping （159m²）, therefore the conference venue is considered to have a high risk of contagion.

The nation’s disease prevention operations would be hindered if a suspected case were to be detected at the venue, it added.

Starting today, the number of attendees would be reduced to 60 reporters from the domestic media and four from the foreign press as well as seven government officials and 14 staff for a total of 85 people, or an average of 1.8 people per ping, it said.

The center also urged reporters not to approach government officials up close and push microphones toward them to ask questions after news conferences, adding that microphones, desks and equipment in the conference room would be disinfected regularly, and hand sanitizer would be provided to the attendees.

An infrared body temperature monitor has also been set up at the entrance of the Centers for Disease Control building, where the news conferences are held, it said, adding that people with a fever would be barred entry and urged to seek immediate medical attention.

The measures followed a CECC announcement on Friday that an Australian composer had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home following two performances in Taiwan.

The center said that 147 people who had come into close contact with the composer have been placed under 14-day home isolation, including several reporters who interviewed him.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung （陳時中）, who heads the center, on Friday night said that the center would rearrange its news conference setting.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES