The government is set to go ahead with its plan to launch a new stimulus voucher program later this year despite a cluster of COVID-19 infections reported recently at a preschool in Banqiao District, New Taipei, Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (???) said Wednesday.

After the number of COVID-19 cases linked to the preschool cluster increased to 15 on Tuesday, New Taipei upgraded its COVID-19 alert level to “enhanced Level-2,” with several schools in the city and Taipei required to suspend classes as a precaution.

The growing preschool cluster has sparked speculation that it could undermine the government’s plan to issue a new round of stimulus vouchers, valued at NT$5,000 (US$179.56), in either print or electronic format, to eligible recipients free of charge.

Under the program, vouchers will be distributed at the beginning of October and be valid through April next year, as a way of stimulating the nation’s economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, Wang said that although the Executive Yuan is expected to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the new stimulus voucher program, the ministry is continuing with the planning process.

Although e-commerce platforms were not covered in the last stimulus voucher program launched last year, whether to include them in this year’s program is still being discussed, according to Wang.

Some major e-commerce operators are pushing for the vouchers to be usable on their platforms and have proposed setting up a special zone on their home page where vouchers can be used to buy farm produce and food and beverage products at preferential prices, Wang said.

The ministry is still considering ways to work with e-commerce platforms, she added.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel