June 9, 2022 – Page 2 – Taiwan Wire Service

June 9, 2022

Schneider Electric and Hitachi Energy collaborate to speed up the energy transition

Collaboration to accelerate the deployment of sustainable and smart energy management solutions
Complementary portfolios in medium and high-voltage technologies to provide greater customer value

Rueil-Malmaison (France), June 9, 2022 ─ Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, and Hitachi Energy, a market and technology leader in transmission, distribution and grid automation solutions, announced today that they have entered into a collaboration to provide greater customer value and accelerate the energy transition.

The non-exclusive collaboration will support customers’ sustainability efforts, including the decarbonization of the energy and industrial sectors. Schneider Electric will be able to use Hitachi Energy’s high-voltage portfolio, while Hitachi Energy can leverage Schneider Electric’s medium-voltage portfolio to provide more comprehensive offerings.

This new collaboration builds on the trusted track record, global footprint, and extensive experience of both these sustainable energy technology leaders in delivering projects for renewables, data centers, mining and other industry segments. Both companies expect this collaborative ecosystem to ensure benefits for customers across their operational life cycle, including a more holistic offering, strengthened supply chain and enhanced efficiencies.

“We are launching this collaboration to help our customers deploy the green electricity solutions instrumental in the fight against climate change,” said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO, Schneider Electric. “With Hitachi Energy, we’re committed to leveraging our respective strengths in order to solve our customers’ most pressing energy challenges.”

“We continue to innovate with technology and business models to advance a more sustainable, flexible and secure energy system,” said Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. “We have chosen to collaborate with Schneider Electric by enhancing our complementary portfolios and address the need of faster deployment of grid solutions for our customers,” he added.

About Schneider Electric

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

www.se.com

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Discover the newest perspectives shaping sustainability, electricity 4.0, and next generation automation on Schneider Electric Insights

Hashtags: #PressRelease #EnergyTransition #Sustainability #EnergyManagement

About Hitachi Energy Ltd.

Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the world’s energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ around 38,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of approximately $10 billion USD.
https://www.hitachienergy.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/hitachienergy
https://twitter.com/HitachiEnergy

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi drives Social Innovation Business, creating a sustainable society with data and technology. We will solve customers’ and society’s challenges with Lumada solutions leveraging IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, under the business structure of Digital Systems & Services, Green Energy & Mobility, Connective Industries and Automotive Systems. Driven by green, digital, and innovation, we aim for growth through collaboration with our customers. The company’s consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2021 (ended March 31, 2022) totaled 10,264.6 billion yen ($84,136 million USD), with 853 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 370,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.

June 9, 2022

International NASH Day Highlights a Common – But Unfamiliar – Liver Disease

Global Liver Institute Convenes Communities Around the Globe Today to Reverse the Growing Trend of Fatty Liver Disease

Washington, D.C., June 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Global Liver Institute (GLI) calls attention to NASH by leading the 5th annual International NASH Day on June 9. The number of people with this advanced liver disease is expected to double by 2030, but #NASHday aims to prevent this growth. Join the movement to #StopNASHNow by listening in as 24 expert panelists from around the globe share the latest updates about the disease or adding to the conversation on social media (#NASHday). The movement permeates the globe through many locally-organized events to educate about, screen for, and prevent NASH.

NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis) is a serious, progressive condition in which too much fat accumulates on the liver, leading to its inflammation and injury. It is the severe form of NAFLD (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease). Modern lifestyle and dietary patterns have contributed to increased prevalence of NASH and NAFLD around the world, and it is becoming the most common cause of liver disease. Given its widespread impact and the possibility of prevention in most cases of this disease, NASH emerges as a global health priority.

“With over a hundred million people worldwide already who have NASH and several times more in the earlier stages, people have reason to know about this progressive condition and what they can do today to combat it,” shared Donna R. Cryer, president and CEO of GLI. “Collective action is imperative to be certain that individuals in each community, no matter their background or environment, are informed and equipped to prevent fatty liver disease. The momentum that we build together today must advance and sustain the global fight against NASH.”

If you didn’t know, then now you know! Even though NASH is common, it remains relatively unknown, leaving much work to be done to increase public awareness. This year, GLI and its partners join with the theme to #StopNASHNow: Even as therapies for NASH are being developed, there are many steps that people and their doctors can take today to prevent, reverse, or slow the progression of fatty liver disease. For the 25% of adults already affected worldwide, it is due time for this life-changing knowledge.

An estimated 1 in 4 adults around the world already has NAFLD.
As many as 1 in 20 people has NASH.
The prevalence of NAFLD is increasing among all global regions and among all ethnicities in parallel with diabetes and obesity.
NASH can progress to cirrhosis or liver cancer – which may necessitate a liver transplant.

“International NASH Day demonstrates the potential that is realized as all stakeholders in NASH come together worldwide,” said Jeff McIntyre, NASH Programs Director at GLI. “From in-person screenings in at-risk communities to educational materials in 16 languages to challenging conversations with researchers, providers, and patients – today the world joins to create meaningful solutions for patients at every stage of NAFLD and NASH.”

International NASH Day has garnered the endorsement of prominent organizations from around the globe: American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD); Association of Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists (ABGH); Asociación Latinoamericana para el Estudio del Hígado (ALEH); Associazione Italiana Studio del Fegato (AISF); Asociación Mexicana de Hepatología (AMH); Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL); Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL); Conference on Liver Disease in Africa (COLDA); European African Treatment Advocates Network (EATAN); European Fatty Liver Conference (EFLC); European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN); EU Patient-Centric Clinical Trial Platforms (EU-PEARL); Fondazione Epatocentro Ticino; Hepatology Society, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Hepatology Society of the Philippines (HSP); Indian National Association for the Study of the Liver (INASL); North American Society For Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition (NASPGHAN); Sociedad Argentina de Hepatologia (SAHE);Turkish Association for the Study of the Liver (TASL); United European Gastroenterology (UEG); World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO); and World Patients Alliance (WPA).

Get Involved

To view the expert panels throughout the day today, visit https://hopin.com/events/5th-annual-international-nash-day/registration. Panels are available in English, French, Hindi, Mandarin, and Spanish throughout the day.

For additional information on International NASH Day, visit www.international-nash-day.com.

Support the NASH Day social media campaign using hashtags #NASHday #StopNASHNow. Please direct any additional questions to NASHDay@globalliver.org.

International NASH Day and its logo are registered trademarks of Global Liver Institute.

About Global Liver Institute

Global Liver Institute (GLI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in the belief that liver health must take its place on the global public health agenda commensurate with the prevalence and impact of liver illness. GLI promotes innovation, encourages collaboration, and supports the scaling of optimal approaches to help eradicate liver diseases. Operating globally, GLI is committed to solving the problems that matter to liver patients and equipping advocates to improve the lives of individuals and families impacted by liver disease. Follow GLI on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. GLI is the global host of International NASH Day.

Global Liver Institute
nashday@globalliver.org

June 9, 2022

STACK Infrastructure Expands APAC Footprint into Australia with 124MW of Capacity across Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth

STACK Infrastructure partners with Hickory to enter the Australian data center market

Australia STACK Announcement

SINGAPORE and MELBOURNE, Australia, June 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — STACK Infrastructure (“STACK”), the digital infrastructure partner to the world’s most innovative companies and leading global developer and operator of data centers, today announced a partnership with Hickory, a leading Australian commercial real estate developer specializing in innovative construction projects, to continue its global expansion with the development of an Australian national data center platform initially spanning three markets.

As part of this partnership, Hickory’s highly experienced data center management team led by Joel O’Halloran, Michael Gunton, and James Veness will join the STACK global platform.

STACK Australia is currently constructing a 72MW campus in the high growth hyperscale corridor of Truganina in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The facility is expected to be delivered early in 2023 and will include two 36MW buildings (currently under construction) with separate access points to accommodate multiple users with separation of security and services. In parallel, STACK Australia is expanding into two key emerging hyperscale markets, including a 28MW data center in Hume, Canberra and a 24MW single data center in Wangara, Perth. Both the Canberra and Perth projects have received development approval, and they will each break ground in the third quarter of 2022 with delivery over the second half of 2023.

All three developments are strategically located with robust access to power and network offering scalability and reliability for higher rack densities and floor loading specifications. STACK Australia’s data centers will enable hyperscalers and enterprise clients to address the evolving requirements in Australia and the APAC region more broadly.

“STACK’s expansion into Australia, building on our recent Japan development, exemplifies our focus on establishing a scalable presence in core regional markets that are strategically important to our clients,” said Pithambar (Preet) Gona, STACK’s Chief Executive Officer – APAC. “The partnership with Hickory demonstrates our ability to leverage our partnership model and expertise to the benefit of our customers while attracting leading data center talent regionally to the STACK platform.”

“Hickory is well-positioned to help concurrently develop efficient facilities across three key locations,” said Michael Argyrou, CEO of Hickory. “Partnering with STACK enables us to leverage an outstanding global operating platform and innovative capital solutions to target hyperscale customer growth in key markets.”

This milestone follows the recent announcement of STACK’s entrance to the APAC market with the opening of its Singapore regional headquarters and announcement of its first 36MW campus in Inzai, Japan. STACK plans to announce investments in other key Asia Pacific markets soon.

The transaction is subject to review by the Foreign Investment Review Board (“FIRB”) and approval by the Australian Commonwealth Treasurer under Australian foreign investment rules.

ABOUT STACK INFRASTRUCTURE
STACK provides digital infrastructure to scale the world’s most innovative companies. With a client-first approach, STACK delivers a comprehensive suite of campus, build-to-suit, colocation, and powered shell solutions in the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions. With robust existing and flexible expansion capacity in the leading availability zones, STACK offers the scale and geographic reach that rapidly growing hyperscale and enterprise companies need. The world runs on data. And data runs on STACK.

For more information about STACK, please visit: https://www.stackinfra.com.

ABOUT HICKORY
Hickory strives to curate and deliver exceptional experiences through sustainable and connected solutions.
For over 30 years, Hickory has continually invested in researching and developing digital platforms, people, and products to advance the capabilities of the built world. With expertise in construction, developments, data centres, and manufacturing, Hickory has become one of the most diverse property companies in Australia.

Their success is achieved through strong partnerships with clients, exemplary values, and unrivalled excellence in project execution, Hickory, and their associated divisions are at the forefront of innovation and new technologies.

For additional information, please visit Hickory’s website at https://www.hickory.com.au/.

Media Contacts
STACK Infrastructure
Sammer Khalaf
press@stackinfra.com

Hickory
Genevieve Paxinos
genevieve@arize.com.au
0422 999 568

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2ae1de3d-73b7-4559-8fe9-7869f2ac4959

June 9, 2022

Drunk driver to serve 8 years for death of Taiwanese student in South Korea

Seoul-The South Korean Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an eight-year prison sentence against a man who was accused of causing the death of a Taiwanese student in a drunk driving accident in 2020.

The man, surnamed Kim, was driving under the influence of alcohol in Seoul on Nov. 6, 2020 when he ran a red light and hit Elaine Tseng (???), a Taiwanese Ph.D. student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in the city, according to South Korean media.

Tseng, who had been walking home from a professor’s residence, died in the accident.

The verdict on Thursday was final and cannot be appealed, which means Kim, 53, will have to serve eight years in prison for causing Tseng’s death, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

After the verdict was issued, Tseng’s mother, Shih Yu-ching (???), told reporters in Taiwan that her family was relieved that the Supreme Court had turned down Kim’s appeal.

The eight-year sentence is the heaviest in South Korea for that type of offense, Shih said, adding that she hopes her daughter’s death will help to heighten public awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol.

Tseng’s father, Tseng Kin-fui (???), said however that the penalty in fatal DUI cases should be stiffer in South Korea, and he expressed the view that the offense is no different from premeditated murder.

In the first trial of the case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim to eight years in prison for causing the student’s death in the DUI accident.

After that, however, the case went bouncing back and forth in the South Korean judicial system, until it again reached the Supreme Court, which issued the final verdict on Thursday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, people who were paying attention to the case had assumed that Kim would get a lighter sentence.

The Supreme Court, however, said in its final ruling that while South Korea’s Constitution decrees that heavier sentences cannot be sought in retrials, it does not stipulate that the previous sentence cannot be upheld.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

June 9, 2022

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan’s COVID-19 mortality rate rises to 0.105%

Taipei-The COVID-19 mortality rate in Taiwan has climbed to 0.105 percent this year, due to a surge in domestic cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Thursday, as it explained its new system for calculating deaths from the disease.

Taiwan has recorded 2,731 deaths from COVID-19 so far this year, including 1,063 between June 3 and 9, and 863 the previous week, according to the CECC.

On Thursday, the daily death toll rose to a record 211, CECC data showed.

According to CECC data, Taiwan’s COVID-19 death rate as of May 19 was 0.04 percent.

However, the COVID-19 morality rate among infected people this year has now increased to 0.105 percent, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (???), who heads the CECC, said Thursday.

The current mortality rate reflects the surge in domestic COVID-19 cases that began in April, as some of the deaths occurring now are among people who became infected earlier in the outbreak, which is now on the decline, according to Chen.

It cannot yet be determined whether Taiwan’s mortality rate is climbing faster than that of other countries, he said at the CECC’s daily press briefing.

Chou Jih-haw (???), head of Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control, said at the briefing that the CECC is now using new criteria for defining COVID-19 deaths.

Up to the end of 2021, anyone who had tested positive for COVID-19 and died was listed as a COVID-19 death, he said.

This year, however, COVID-19 deaths are being listed only as those that can be directly attributed to the disease, Chou said.

As of June 8, the deaths of 553 people who had COVID-19 were ruled as unrelated to the disease itself, according to Chou.

He said that 39 of them were either suicide or accidents, and in 227 cases, COVID-19 was not listed as the cause of death on the death certificates.

Another 16 people had passed away long after they contracted COVID-19, and 271 had COVID-19 listed under the “other” category on their death certificates, Chou said. In those cases, doctors had looked at the medical history and determined that the deaths were unrelated to COVID-19, he added.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

June 9, 2022

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan COVID-19 News Briefs: June 9

Taipei-Taiwan reported 72,967 new COVID-19 cases — 72,921 domestically transmitted and 46 imported infections — and 211 deaths from the disease on Thursday, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The 211 deaths were a single-day high, surpassing the 159 recorded Wednesday, CECC data showed.

Here are some of the new developments regarding the COVID-19 situation around Taiwan on Thursday:

The 1922 hotline has no authority to provide ambulance services

The CECC’s toll-free 1922 Hotline does not have the authority to dispatch ambulances because its operation has been outsourced to a contractor to provide epidemic notification and consulting services, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (???), who heads the CECC, said at the daily news briefing Thursday.

Chen was responding to criticism of the hotline’s slow response by the main opposition Kuomintang legislative caucus, which said the CECC needs to review its operation and take administrative and legal responsibility for the hotline’s failure to respond quickly in emergency situations.

The ineffective response came to light after the father of a 2-year-old boy, nicknamed En En (??), who died of COVID-19 said the hotline took too long to respond to his call for help and manage an ambulance to take his son to hospital for emergency medical treatment in April.

En En’s father said it took 143 minutes on April 14 to contact the New Taipei City Department of Health to find an ambulance to take his son to hospital.

Acknowledging the limitations of the hotline, Chen said the 1922 hotline’s main duties include consultation services about disease prevention and control, quarantine, vaccination and information concerning local and overseas epidemics, but it does not have the authority to dispatch ambulances.

Taiwan can pick Moderna’s next-generation COVID-19 vaccine

Taiwan’s purchasing contract with Moderna means the country can choose to take delivery of the company’s next-generation COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available, as it still has not received 10 million Moderna vaccine doses it ordered for this year, according to Chen.

Chen made the remarks as Moderna announced promising results from trials of its latest bivalent vaccine, a redesigned version of its COVID-19 booster shot, saying it produced a better immune response against the Omicron variant.

Taiwan may allow tour groups to travel overseas in September

Taiwan is considering allowing travel agencies to organize group tours to other countries beginning September, Chen said.

“Of course, it is possible,” he replied when asked about the possibility of allowing Taiwanese tour groups to travel overseas in September, with Japan set to start allowing tourists on package tours from some countries to enter from June 10, including Taiwan.

Asked about the CECC’s plan to cancel quarantine entirely for airline crew members under a “0+7” formula, Chen said it has yet to be finalized.

Currently, crew members on long-haul flights who received their booster shot at least two weeks prior to their assignment are subject to three days of quarantine upon returning to Taiwan, followed by four days of self-health management.

Crew members on short-haul flights who received their boosters two weeks prior to their assignment are required to monitor their health for five days after returning.

COVID-19 cases fall after Dragon Boat Festival holiday

Large gatherings of people during the June 3-5 Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend had only a small impact on the COVID-19 situation as daily case numbers in the past four days following the festival continued to decline, Chen said.

The seven-day moving average of domestic COVID-19 cases in Taiwan has fallen over the past two weeks from 80,000 to around 70,000 as the nation’s average COVID-19 infection rate has reached 11.4 percent, according to Chen.

In the past week, daily domestic case numbers fell to 53,023 on Monday before rebounding to more than 80,000 Tuesday and Wednesday and then dropping to 72,967 on Thursday, indicating a downward trend, Chen said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

June 9, 2022

Philippines bureau instructed to accept Taiwan vaccination certificates

Taipei-The Philippine Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) has been directed to recognize COVID-19 vaccine certificates issued by Taiwan regardless of the vaccine used, meaning individuals vaccinated with the Medigen vaccine no longer have to quarantine upon arrival in the country, according to the Philippine office of Taiwan’s state-owned flag carrier China Airlines.

The Philippine Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) sent a letter dated June 7 to the BOQ instructing it to recognize COVID-19 vaccine certificates issued in Taiwan regardless of the vaccine used.

Wang Fu-sheng (???), general manager of China Airlines in the Philippines, told CNA that under current regulations, those who have received a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior are not required to undergo a COVID-19 test or quarantine before entering the Philippines.

For those who have had a second dose of a vaccine at least 14 days prior, as long as they submit a RT-PCR test within 48 hours or a negative antigen rapid screening certificate issued within 24 hours of entering the Philippines, they also do not need to quarantine, Wang said.

However, due to different standards set by various immigration officials, there have been cases where some Taiwanese vaccinated with the Medigen COVID-19 vaccine have been asked to quarantine on entering the Philippines, Wang said.

However, following the IATF-EID instruction, quarantine is not required regardless of vaccine, Wang said.

The official document dated June 7 and signed by Charade B. Mercado-Grande, Inter-Agency Task Force Head of Secretariat, was sent to BOQ Director Ferdinand. S. Salcedo, directing the bureau “to honor the vaccine certificates issued by Taiwan, and allow the entry of foreign nationals carrying said vaccine certificates, without prejudice to the other admission requirements set forth in IATF Resolution No. 168, s. 2022.”

Under IATF-EID Resolution 168, inbound passengers do not need to present an RT-PCR test, on conditions that they are 18 years old and above, and have had at least one booster shot against COVID-19, according to the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

Also exempted from the pre-departure RT-PCR requirement are those aged 12 to 17 who have received two COVID-19 vaccine shots, as well as those aged below 12 accompanied by fully vaccinated or boosted parents or guardians, the PNA said.

The document also stated that a Manila Economic and Culture Office (MECO) letter dated May 19 asked the IATF Technical Advisory Group (IATF-TAG) to make a recommendation on the matter.

On that date, the IATF-TAG, through the Philippine Department of Health, offered no objections to allowing the entry of foreign nationals with unrecognized vaccines, or vaccines that are not part of the National COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Plan and the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan was one of the top five sources of tourists visiting the Philippines, with 327,273 Taiwanese heading to the country in 2019.

Moreover, in 2019, Taiwanese tourists spent US$252.10 million (NT$7.46 billion) in the country, according to Philippine Department of Tourism in Taiwan data.

The figures indicate sustained consumer interest and strong potential to expand further, considering the accessibility and proximity of the Philippines and Taiwan, leading MECO to encourage Taiwanese tourists to visit the southeast holiday destination.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

June 9, 2022

FEATURE/Taiwan donations help fund Ukrainian hospitals, refugees

Taipei-Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, Taiwan has been providing humanitarian aid to the latter to help deal with the problem of civilian casualties and displacement.

Under the “Taiwan Can Help” initiative, some US$5.8 million (NT$171 million) has been donated in two tranches, in April and in May, and the funds have gone to hospitals in Ukraine that treat war injuries.

One of the main beneficiaries has been National Specialized Children’s Hospital Okhmatdyt in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which in peacetime provides specialized care to children with rare and genetic diseases, among other illnesses.

Since the outbreak of the war, the hospital has been flooded with injured children, some of whom have to be put on beds in the hallways, while its medical supplies are being depleted at an alarming rate, the staff told CNA.

“Now, we’ve changed our focus to children who suffered from war, caused by Russia,” the hospital’s General Director Volodymyr Zhovnir said in a thank-you video message to Taiwan. “To treat these children, we use all of our facilities, personnel and hardware.”

Most of the children are victims of Russia’s bombing of civilian residential areas, gas stations and supermarkets, the hospital staff said.

Some of the children are infants who have sustained head and limb injuries during the onslaught on civilians by Russian forces, the staff said, showing CNA reporters photos of some of the young patients.

Taiwan’s donations have helped to purchase a computerized tomography (CT) coronary angiogram machine that will be used to assess the surgical and medical options for injured children, the hospital’s Medical Director Serhiy Churnishuk told CNA.

“It’s very important equipment for us,” Churnishuk said, adding that it improves the chances of helping patients who may require brain surgery and other invasive procedures.

While the hospital has been trying to treat and shelter as many children as possible, the reality is that it cannot save the lives of all those admitted, and some never make to the hospital because of the distance they have to travel in a war zone, he said.

The difficulties of travel have affected not just patients, but also the hospital staff, according to Churnishuk.

He said that since Russia actively launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, most of the staff, including doctors, nurses, and technicians, have been staying at the hospital because it is impossible for them to commute between work and home.

“Most of us … sleep here, eat here, live here,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the city of Kharkiv, just 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border with Russia, another hospital is also struggling to save lives, as it has a shortage of supplies, among other problems.

Some of its windows were blown out during air raids and are now patched with pieces of wood.

The Institute of General and Urgent Surgery, as it is called, is helping to alleviate the pressure on military hospitals on the frontlines of the war and is treating soldiers, as well as civilians, as Ukrainian forces fight to drive out the Russian military in Kharkiv, the hospital’s vice president Yevhen Datsenko told CNA.

Injured civilians are being treated in military hospitals, and those brought to the institute are usually complicated cases, he said.

“The first days, yes, there were many (admitted patients), and after about two weeks already, well, a few a week. No mass entry,” Datsenko said via a translator.

The hospital is facing a challenge of supply shortages due to logistics disruption, which is why Taiwan’s donations of medical supplies such as bandages, antibiotics, respirators and surgical equipment were more practical than financial aid, he said.

“Even if we had the money, it would be difficult to buy (supplies),” Datsenko said, stressing that the medical supplies received from foreign governments, including Taiwan, were more important.

To date, some 7 million Ukrainian senior citizens, women and children have been displaced by the war, many of them having fled to neighboring countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

According to the United Nations, about half of the Ukrainian refugees are now in Poland, 50,000 of them in the city of Lublin, which has a population of 340,000 residents.

Taiwan has sent donations of US$11 million and over 200 metric tons of supplies to Poland, after the Taipei Representative Office in Poland approached the Lublin City government with an offer of humanitarian aid, Krzysztof Stanowski, director of the city’s International Affairs Center, told CNA.

Lublin was happy to accept Taiwan’s donations, which will be used to help put food on the tables of Ukrainian families and to assist Ukrainian students and children, he said.

Taiwan has also donated money and supplies to some of the other European countries that have been taking in Ukrainian refugees, including Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

While Taiwan’s donations may pale in comparison to those of Western countries, Taiwan’s speed in providing the aid has been applauded by politicians in other nations, according to Taiwan’s representative to Poland Bob Chen (???).

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel