Top Taiwan health officials have gone weeks without a day off

Despite the successes of Taiwan''s fight against the coronavirus, some are concerned that the battle is taking a toll on Taiwan''s top officials. The heads of the Central Epidemic Command Center - that''s Chen Shih-chung, Chou Chih-hao and Chuang Jen-hsiang - have not taken a single day off since the task force was upgraded to Level 2 authorization in Jan. On at least one occasion, health minister Chen is believed to have worked for 30 hours straight. Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen has been named as Chen''s deputy, and will step in if he should need to take a break. Presiding over the Central Epidemic Command Center at 10 a.m., Chen launched into an hour-long press briefing. This was his 26th consecutive hour at work."I''m not tired," he joked after a minor slip. But his puffy eyes and weary face told another story.Chen Shih-chungCentral Epidemic Command CenterOf course I haven''t had a good rest. I haven''t slept! But it''s like that for all of us. This is just how it is.This is how Chen''s marathon 30-hour shift unfolded. At 9 a.m. he was reading updates and overseeing the preparations of planes chartered to evacuate citizens from Wuhan. He held a press conference at 1 p.m., followed by two meetings.In the blink of an eye, it was midnight and Chen was driven up to Taoyuan''s airport in a black car. He was on hand to personally direct the whole operation as two flights of evacuees arrived from Wuhan. In the gaps between, he managed to visit three quarantine centers to check their arrangements. At 8 a.m. the next morning he was still up, returning to the Central Epidemic Command Center to read another morning of reports, and hold another press conference. All in all, he worked 30 hours without a wink of sleep.Tsao Hsin-paoFormer Taiwan Dental AssociationWe all say he''s a workaholic. But what''s good is, he can fall asleep and wake up, all in a very short break. So he can get little kips in here and there to top up.Cheng Yun-pengDPP lawmakerHe has always had a very strong sense of responsibility. And he''s excellent at communication. When Su Tseng-chang became premier, and appointed him minister of health and welfare, I told him, "Chen Shih-chung will be great."Chen took on the mantle of the head of the Central Epidemic Command Center on Jan. 24. Since, then he''s held a press briefing at least daily for 49 days without fail. He''s even been going into the legislature to answer lawmakers'' questions. Premier Su Tseng-chang revealed he''d wanted to find a backup to give Chen some days off, but was hesitant to raise the topic.There''s nothing the premier can''t tell me, Chen says. For now, he''s willing to keep on keeping on. But it emerged that on Monday, the command center designated Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen as his deputy, ready to step in if needed.