Crowd control at Taipei’s Binjiang Market tougher than expected

Описание: With the nation still at Level 3 COVID alert, it was more than a challenge to control the crowd on Dragon Boat Festival weekend at one of Taipei''s wholesale fruit and vegetable markets. Shoppers descended on the traditional market on the first weekend the city government instituted compulsory crowd control measures. People with odd ID card numbers are supposed to shop on different days from those with even numbers. But as authorities found out, putting the measure into practice was easier said than done.

It’s not even 8 o’clock in the morning, but Binjiang Market is already abuzz with early shoppers. Housewives have come all the way here to buy zongzi, or sticky rice dumplings.

She picked up ten zongzi in one go. It’s the Dragon Boat Festival after all. It just wouldn’t be complete without zongzi and the foods used for worship. In front of the Dragon Boat Festival-themed stalls stood a crowd. But in the year of COVID, there’s an internal turmoil-- to buy and risk infection or not to buy? Shop owners say business has been slow compared to previous years.
Vendor
This year our business has dropped by two thirds, and it’s due to the pandemic. We use home delivery a lot. Otherwise how would we survive?

Vendor
Customers always worship on Dragon Boat Festival, but you keep restricting us and grandmas keep complaining. What am I supposed to do?

On Saturday, citizens reported to authorities that Binjiang Market was crowded like it was New Year’s Eve. The police showed up at 8 o''clock and stayed around till noon. Once the police left, shoppers and vendors turned up again, crowding into the market. Last week, the Taipei City Government announced compulsory control measures, stipulating that people with odd and even ID card numbers are to shop on different days of the week. But putting the measure into practice had its challenges, especially at the market’s entrance.

Member of public
I thought we only needed to swipe the QR code, so I just brought my cellphone. Now I have to go back to get my ID, or he wouldn’t let me in.

Some didn’t bring a cellphone and had to register their information by hand. Some brought their cellphones but didn’t carry an ID. Even with 10 police officers on hand, the entrance was still jammed with people. Some even disregarded the control measure and snuck in from the side.

Chen Wei-yuan
Binjiang Market Self-Government Asso.
The size of the weekend crowd has been a third of previous weekends, maybe even less, so business has been affected for sure. There’s nothing we can do. We must comply with epidemic prevention measures.

The market’s self-government association has sent out 10 staff members to patrol the grounds. With the pandemic looming, shoppers wanting to feast on festival foods, and vendors trying to generate business, the patrol has its work cut out to keep the virus at bay.