Mayor’s remarks:
1. The fall and winter seasons and periods of cold weather are typically a time of increased coronavirus activity and respiratory disease. In response, the CECC announced its fall/winter COVID-19 prevention plan last year to deal with the pandemic in winter. Although there have been no new local cases in the past several days, daily imported cases have remained in the double digits. We must be vigilant in preventing community spread and mass panic as tensions have risen today after an imported case in Central Taiwan was reported. Relevant departments and bureaus must ensure that the public follow epidemic prevention guidelines and continue to encourage government staff and the public to get vaccinated. This also applies to public schools and agencies. Government agencies must have a higher vaccination rate than the national average. Therefore, I ask relevant departments and bureaus to investigate and uncover the departments with low vaccination rates and target these departments when promoting vaccination.
2. The capacity of Tsengwen Reservoir has dipped below 70%, and rice farmers are relying on the reservoir to irrigate their first crops next year. We are currently on a trajectory to extreme domestic water shortage. Therefore, we must implement conservancy measures now to prevent shortages from happening again. Tainan City is a tourism city and attracts large crowds during the holidays and Chinese New Year, which will inevitably strain our water resources. I ask relevant departments and bureaus to double down on their water conservation efforts by shifting to recycled water for street sweeping and public landscaping. For every liter of recycled water we use, an equivalent amount of domestic water is saved. Also, leaking pipes must also be reported immediately for repair. I implore relevant departments and bureaus to ensure that these requirements are enforced.