The whole world is watching! The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) today (8th) after the pandemic outbreak began with the admission of 1,000 spectators to the game played by "China Trust Brothers" and "Rakuten Monkeys" at the Taichung International Baseball Stadium and this game has now become the world's focus! Mayor Lu Shiow-Yen especially conducted the site visit at the Stadium before the game for pandemic prevention and control measures including real-name registration, flow control and eating and drinking prohibitions; she said the Taichung City Government and the relevant agencies inspected the site and conducted meetings for several times. As long as this game is successfully organized, it will become the world's indicator and Taichung will be able to share this successful experience with other countries.
In tonight's game, China Trust Brothers especially invited 58 medical workers from Chung Shan Medical University Hospital and the ball game was opened by the President and Executive Director of Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association. A member of the "National Face Mask Team for Pandemic Prevention and Control," Mr. Hsu Wen-Hsien and Dai Yun-Chin were thanked for their efforts and contributions to Taiwan's pandemic prevention and control. Mayor Lu also arrived at the stadium for the opening and witnessing this historical moment with 1,000 speculators.
Mayor Lu pointed out that today is the third formal site inspection conducted by the Taichung City Government and several discussions and drills were exercised with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) and interdepartmental agencies of Taichung City Government. She thanks very much for the coordination to facilitate and ensure safer baseball games that allow players and speculators to play and enjoy games better. The successful organization of this game will make it an indicator not only for Taiwan but also for the world.
"Pandemic prevention and control is our first priority!" said Mayor Lu. Her inspection today focused on pandemic prevention and control planning such as entrances and exits, movement routes, seat spacing, etc. The Taichung City Government has adopted the strictest inspection standard. Additionally, following the newest guidelines of the CECC, the CPBL announced that no food or drinks are allowed at the Stadium due to sanitary considerations with the exception of necessary medication taking and water drinking. After drinking water, spectators are advised to put on face masks immediately and be vigilant.
The Commander of the Central Region of Pandemic Medical Network, Huang Kao-Bing, pointed out that after the decision to admit spectators is made after thoughtful thinking and under the leadership of Mayor Lu, the cabinet of the Taichung City Government carefully conducted several coordination meetings for pandemic prevention and control. He believed that the game will be a successful one and become the indicator and world model for the world's sports events.
Director General of Sport Bureau, Li Yu-Rui said it is almost a month after this season of the CPBL games and both the CPBL and each baseball team have sufficient pandemic prevention and control experience and they also exercised relevant drills. He has the confidence in pandemic prevention and control. For the admission of spectators to the game after the pandemic outbreak, the CPBL strictly imposes pandemic prevention and control measures. In addition to basic body temperature measurements and hand disinfection, real-name registration is required. Before the game, seats were marked according to the safe distance of more than 1 meter and speculators will be seated according to their ticket numbers. Speculators also need to wear face masks during the game and no random walking is allowed to prevent infection.
The Sports Bureau pointed out that the CPBL games are exciting and spectators are welcome to check ticket purchases on the CPBL official website. Streaming and TV baseball games are also available for those not purchasing their tickets and they also can cheer for their favorite players. The CPBL official website is http://www.cpbl.com.tw/.
Mayor Lu led her cabinet to this afternoon's inspection. The Commander of Central Region of Pandemic Medical Network, Huang Kao-Bing, Deputy Mayor Chen Tzi-Ching, Director General of Sport Bureau, Li Yu-Rui accompanied Mayor Lu and City Councilman Chen Cheng-Tian, Huang Ching-Hou, and Lo Ting-Wei also participated in the inspection.