The average number of people employed in the industrial and service sectors in Taiwan fell in 2020 for the first time in 11 years because of the economic disruption caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic, according to Taiwan's statistics bureau.

The cabinet says a proposal for the establishment of a Ministry of Digital Development will be submitted to the legislature during the current plenary session, which runs from February until May.

The Financial Supervisory Commission says eighteen local banks are now offering bilingual services at their branches.

Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) spokesman Zhuang Ren-xiang says Taiwan and other non-United Nations member countries will be allotted 1.3 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine in the first round of COVAX vaccine distribution.

Taiwan has jumped 20 places in the 2020 Democracy Index rankings to 11th place globally from 31st in 2019 and now ranks top in Asia - that, according to the latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Ministry of Transport says national scenic areas and theme parks island wide will be observing government mandated capacity restrictions in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Researchers have found that the mortality rate of pneumonia and influenza in Taiwan dropped to the lowest level in a decade last year.