The off-shore island of Kinmen is urging the central government to allow outlying islands to conduct mass testing of arriving passengers for COVID-19. That’s because islands like Kinmen have limited medical resources.
With a population of 140,000, Kinmen has just one hospital with only 304 hospital beds and four negative pressure isolation beds. Opposition KMT lawmaker Chen Yu-jen, a Kinmen resident, is concerned that Kinmen’s health system would collapse should an outbreak of COVID-19 emerge.
Opposition KMT lawmaker Chen Yu-jen is furious. That’s because the Central Epidemic Command Center turned a blind eye to a resolution that would have allowed mass testing of arriving passengers on Taiwan’s outlying islands.
Chen is not happy because the Legislature passed the resolution on Monday, and the epidemic command center revoked it a day later.
Chen said this presents her constituents on the outlying island of Kinmen with major problems, because the island has minimal medical resources.
Kinmen county official Chen Chao-jin agrees. Chen says he is worried that an overburdened health system will collapse.