Virus Outbreak: Cluster led to festival cancelation By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter Dramatic developments in the spread of COVID-19 in Taiwan in the past 10 days led to the government’s decision to cancel the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Hsinchu City, Minister of Transportation and Communication Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. The Executive Yuan canceled the flagship tourism event one day after Lin told reporters that the annual festival should proceed, despite a cluster COVID-19 infections at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital causing an increase in the number of domestic cases. “Even though there has yet to be a massive community infection, the cluster infection at the hospital has come to a critical point, as it has begun to affect some residents in the community. It is possible that the disease could spread further. As such, we support and agree with the Hsinchu City Government’s decision to cancel the event, and will assist it in handling the aftermath,” Lin said on the sidelines of an event yesterday.