As of Monday, Taipei restaurants are no longer open for dine-in customers. Mayor Ko Wen-je made the announcement at a press conference on Sunday.
The directive applies to all establishments serving food and beverages within the city, including places like night markets, food stalls, and drink shops. Customers will still be allowed to order food and drinks for take-out or delivery.
Mayor Ko says that an uptick in positive tests for COVID-19 at the city’s rapid testing stations shows that community transmission is ongoing. About 8.5% of rapid tests came back positive on Saturday, up from a low of 4.6% earlier in the week.
Ko says that those figures are a reflection of the virus’s spread in the city one to two weeks earlier. That accounts for the time between infection, the onset of symptoms, and eventual testing.
The mayor says that from a clinical perspective, it’s extremely dangerous to remove face masks indoors in order to eat. He says the risk of infection is particularly high for people sitting at the same table.