Taipei City Government

Accompanied by Taipei City Hospital Superintendent Chu Da-chen, Deputy Superintendent Huang Tsun-cheng, and National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) Superintendent Wu Ming-shiang, Mayor Ko Wen-je inspected the National Taiwan University (NTU) COVID-19 Screening Station at NTUH Stadium on May 17.
 
During the visit, Ko noted that as Taiwan’s largest hospital, NTUH plays an important role in the fight against COVID-19. He hopes that NTUH will continue to serve as Taipei City’s last line of defense against the pandemic.
 
The mayor remarked that Taipei’s emergency room capacity is currently at 12,000 beds, and there is a total of 2,400 beds in the city’s COVID wards – among which 700 beds remain vacant as of today. He currently has no plan to revise the response plan for medical agencies at this point, though this may change in the future depending on development. The manpower at the COVID emergency outpatient clinic operated by NTU will be adjusted accordingly pending actual needs. 
 
Regarding the media’s question about why there aren’t many people at the NTU COVID Screening Station today, the mayor pointed out that the low number of visitors is due to the fact that the screening station is currently under test operation.
 
As for why NTU COVID Screening Station offers only 400 slots a day – significantly less than other emergency outpatient clinics, Ko explained that allocating too much medical resources before the peak of the pandemic is a waste of resource utilization. While the initial quota is 400 openings, the facility will adjust the places available based on actual development in the future.
 
At the end of the visit, the mayor presented the staff at NTU COVID Screening Station with fruit snack bundles to express his gratitude for their hard work.