Taoyuan Restaurants Ordered to Halve Seating Capacity 桃市府宣布 1/29起餐廳內用座位減半

There are currently four COVID-19 transmission chains extending across Taoyuan. The city government has discovered overlap between the Chien Tu Hotpot restaurant and Jimmy Bear Kindergarten clusters. As many of the new cases can be traced to restaurants, Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan has ordered restaurants to reduce their seating capacity by half.

Taoyuan saw 28 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 26, and there are currently four transmission chains extending across the city. A city government investigation showed there may be a link between the Chien Tu Hotpot restaurant and Jimmy Bear Kindergarten clusters. A kindergarten student's grandmother tested positive, and ate at the restaurant on Jan. 16. It's possible she was infected while eating there, and then spread it to her family. There were at least three other groups of customers on the same day.

Cheng Wen-tsan, Mayor, Taoyuan City: “The footprints in the two epidemic investigations overlapped, so it should be the fourth group of customers to test positive in the Chien Tu Hotpot restaurant cluster infection. We hope that people who dined at Chien Tu Hotpot's Bade-Jieshou branch on Jan. 16 will go get tested.”

A Longtan retiree has also tested positive, and the infection source is unknown. Friends who shared a table at a farm stay cafeteria also tested positive. Many of the new cases can be traced to restaurant dining. The Taoyuan City Government hasn't ordered eateries to ban on-site dining, but they will be required to halve their seating capacity by Jan. 29. 

Cheng Wen-tsan, Mayor, Taoyuan City: “We hope to control the flow of people through restaurants by reducing the seating capacity by half and banning the use of karaoke equipment. People will need to wear masks if they leave their seats. If restaurants cannot reduce their capacity by half due to their layout, they can use alternative measures such as social distancing, partitions, or private rooms.”

Foreign worker disease prevention and safety are also important. Taoyuan has already started the first round of rapid testing for companies that employ 50 or more foreign workers, and has tested 44,397 people. Two tested positive in the rapid tests. They then took PCR tests. One came back negative and the other result hasn't come back yet. The city will expand testing to companies with 20 or more foreign workers, and expects to test 80,000 workers.

 

桃園26日新增28例確診，總計目前有四條傳播鏈在延燒。經過市府疫調，初判錢都群聚案和加貝爾幼兒園感染案有關聯，因為加貝爾幼童的確診祖母，曾經在1月16日到錢都用餐，疫調重疊。可能在吃鍋時染疫，再導致家庭群聚，而且當天用餐時，現場至少還有3組客人。

桃園市長鄭文燦說明:「因為兩邊的疫調足跡是重疊的，所以錢都這個群聚感染的事件，應該是第四組客人（確診）了。那我們還是希望1月16號，在錢都涮涮鍋八德介壽店吃過飯的用過餐的民眾，要站出來採檢。」

另外龍潭退休的登山山友確診，目前感染源仍不明，曾在農家樂小吃店同桌吃飯唱歌的朋友也確診。因應最近幾起群聚案例都和餐廳內用有關，桃園市府沒有強制店家禁止內用的規劃，但也決定率先全國，29日起要求市內餐廳內用座位減半。

桃園市長鄭文燦表示:「我們希望餐廳的人流管制，座位要減半，停止使用附設的卡拉OK。那離開座位需要佩戴口罩，那如果餐廳的配置沒有辦法減半，用社交距離或者屏風，或者獨立包廂等等其他的方式來替代。」

除了內用防疫措施加嚴，移工防疫安全也同樣重要。目前桃園進行第一輪50人以上移工企業快篩，共篩檢44397人，有2人快篩陽性，進一步PCR一人陰性、一人結果尚未出爐。接下來市府會再擴大到對20人以上移工企業快篩，預估總共會有將近8萬名移工接受快篩。