All schools K-12 in Taipei and New Taipei City are now suspended until May 28. The mayors of the two cities held a joint press conference on Monday morning to announce the news. The closures come as Taiwan battles the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. The new rules apply to public and private schools, and to cram schools.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je told the press conference that cases are still on the rise, and that 10% of rapid tests are coming back positive. He says that means stronger measures are needed.
Announcements like this usually come in the afternoon at the daily press conference for the Central Epidemic Command Center. But Ko says they made the announcement in the morning in order to give parents more time to respond.
“At this stage,” he said, “what we want to do is stop the transmission. From a public health perspective, the most effective way to do that is to stay put.”
Ko says there are 300,000 K-12 students in Taipei City alone. Suspending classes will keep those students from coming into close contact with one another.
Authorities are stressing that even though in-person classes are suspended, that does not mean that education is suspended. Both Taipei and New Taipei have set up on-line learning resources to enable students to continue studying at home.
Parents are also legally obliged to take time off work if they have a child at home who is 12 or under, or a child with a disability who is in junior high or high school. While employers are required to allow time off, they can choose whether or not to pay the employee.
Taipei City labor officials say that employers who do not allow workers to take time off to take care of their children can be fined between NT$20,000-$300,000 (about US$700-US$11,000). They say they are also considering raising the fines.