Despite being a role model against COVID-19, Taiwan still urges people to stay at home to celebrate the New Year

Many major cities in Taiwan urged people to stay at home to watch fireworks after recording a case of infection with a new variant of the corona virus. Thanks to effective anti-epidemic measures in the early stages, Taiwan is considered one of the most effective anti-epidemic models in the world.

Despite being a role model against COVID-19, Taiwan still urges people to stay at home to celebrate the New Year

Currently, Taiwan has recorded nearly 800 cases of COVID-19 – most of which are imported – and 7 deaths.

However, Taiwan is on high alert after December 22, when they recorded the first community infection since April until now. And yesterday, December 30, Taiwan recorded the first infection of the corona virus variant.

Taiwan’s major cities such as Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taichung, Taoyuan, Chiayi and Keelung at the end of December 30 simultaneously announced the cancellation of New Year’s Eve events and urged people to stay at home to watch fireworks. flowers on television.

On December 31, the Taipei city government said people could still watch fireworks at the Taipei 101 tower. The tower is also known as the Taipei World Financial Center and was once the tallest building in the world. world from 2004 to 2010, according to Reuters news agency.

The number of people attending the event was cut in half, from 80,000 originally planned to about 40,000. Those attending the event must register personal information and wear a mask.

The traditional flag-raising ceremony at the Taiwan President’s Office is also limited to officials and a few invited guests, depending on the “latest epidemic situation”.

Global goods compete for seats on flights

Data from Xeneta, an air and ocean freight rate appraisal platform, shows that freight rates on some major routes have increased by 70-100%.

And Mr. Keith Winter, chief executive officer of Crane Worldwide Logistics (specializing in freight forwarding and shipping), said that the rental price for a whole Boeing 777 to carry goods is currently about 2 million USD, while the price before the pandemic. only about $400,000.

Soaring prices cost customers about $11/kg to air freight, up from $3.50/kg before the pandemic.

Brandon Fried, executive director of the Air Transport Association, told Trade Secrets (a column of the Financial Times ) that demand for freight has been so hot that passenger planes have turned to full crates. cargo in the seats and in the luggage compartment.

“If your merchandise isn’t on the plane now, you won’t have a meaningful Christmas,” Fried said, noting that retailers must reserve a seat on the plane to expedite their products. to markets around the world.

Christmas this year has time to receive gifts?

Due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sophisticated and complex network of connections and operations between factories, ports, cargo ships, trucks and rail transport services between countries has been closed. unable to keep up with the rapid recovery of market demand in reopening countries.

Accordingly, the supply chain of everything, from food to clothing, books, electronics, toys… is affected. Although companies are impatient, they cannot have goods because there are not enough ships and containers at the moment.

The freight charge for a container used to be about 3,200 USD, now it has increased to 20,000 USD. At this time, a long line of ships waiting to be unloaded at the port of Los Angeles (USA) has reached more than a hundred kilometers. According to the Washington Post, the wait will continue for weeks.

Social media is flooded with images of empty shelves at Walmart – America’s largest supermarket chain. Many restaurants had to remove items from their menus because they could not buy ingredients.

The supply chain crisis can be felt from people queuing to buy petrol in the UK to inflation reaching 5.4% – the highest level in 13 years in the US.

In the UK, to reassure the public, on October 13, both the prime minister and the finance minister pledged that people could still shop normally over Christmas and the supply chain would remain “strong”.

Of course, the government has to intervene because supply chains in the UK and some countries in the European Union are at risk of being disrupted locally due to a shortage of workers as a result of Brexit and the shift in the labor market during the period. post-COVID-19. The UK lacks 100,000 truck drivers, and Europe has a total shortage of 400,000 drivers.

There is also a difference in the anti-epidemic concept of countries. The fact that China remains faithful to the “zero COVID” strategy, while many countries have accepted to live with COVID-19, poses a great challenge in unifying the rules and regulations for which workers enter and exit ports. and freight hubs around the world must comply.

Sprint “save” Christmas

In order to save the supply chain, which is threatening the US economic recovery, on October 13, US President Joe Biden had a meeting with the general directors of large companies related to freight such as Walmart, FedEx. , UPS, Target, Samsung…

Accordingly, all stages in the supply chain in the US, starting from the port, must sprint from now until the end of the year. The Port of Los Angeles has agreed to operate 24/7 for loading and unloading. According to Reuters news agency, an estimated 500,000 containers are waiting on the ships.

The two leading US retailers, Walmart and Target, are committed to increasing overnight loading and unloading at the port and speeding up the delivery of goods across the country at a 24/7 pace.

The White House hopes the trucking and rail industries will also work overtime, while the federal government is in talks with states to push for commercial driver licensing.

President Biden believes that deploying 24/7 loading and unloading will help change the situation. But Target CEO Brian Cornell isn’t so optimistic. Mr. Cornell said his company has operated their supply chain 24/7 for many years, not just now. As a result, Target can only commit to a 10% increase in unloading over the next 90 days.

After temporary measures, in the long term, according to Mr. Biden, it is necessary to address long-standing weaknesses in the US supply chain. It is necessary to improve production capacity right in the US to meet domestic and world demand. Through it, Mr. Biden called for support for his infrastructure bill and the Rebuild Better Act. Money from the bill would invest in supply chains and manufacturing, enhancing the ability to manufacture “from A to Z” a wider range of goods in the United States.