Thai mask requirement angers DOH

A man disinfects the trunk of a taxi at the Taipei Children's Museum of Transportation and Communication yesterday. The service is being offered free for two days by Taiwan Taxi to help contain the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome. All taxis in the Taipei area have been invited to have their vehicles sterilized today and tomorrow. PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday protested against a Thai demand that visitors from Taiwan wear surgical masks all the time they are in the country because of fears about the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), an official said yesterday.

DOH Deputy Director-General Lee Lung-teng (李龍騰) said Taiwan was not on a list of "off-limits" areas to which the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned against traveling.

"Requiring Taiwanese visitors to wear surgical masks during their stays in Thailand is unreasonable," Lee said. "According to WHO regulations, individuals who do not have any suspected SARS symptoms can't be forced to wear surgical masks."

He said that the DOH had sent a letter endorsed by DOH Director-General Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) to the Thai Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday evening to protest the demand.

The ministry announced on Tuesday that all travelers from China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan would have to wear masks for the first 14 days of their visits to Thailand. It also urged Thai nationals to avoid traveling to these countries.

The DOH letter to the Thai government detailed the quarantine and disinfection measures taken by Taiwan to contain the spread of SARS.

"Even the WHO has recognized Taiwan's efficiency in its quarantine and disinfection drive," the letter said.

However, no response had been received from the Thai authorities as of yesterday.

Taiwan on Wednesday was also added to a Singapore Ministry of Health list of places Singaporeans should avoid.

"Singaporeans are advised to heed the ministry's travel advisory and not travel to Hong Kong, Guangdong Province, Taiwan, Shanxi, Hanoi and Toronto, in accordance with the WHO's list of affected areas," a statement posted on the ministry's Web site said.

"It is a travel advisory. The Singapore Ministry of Health is not banning Singaporeans from traveling to affected areas on the WHO list," said a reliable source at the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei who declined to be named.

"It's only an additional measure of precaution that Singaporeans should avoid travelling to these affected areas," the source said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Richard Shih (石瑞琦) said yesterday that the government was very concerned about the issue and had summoned the Thai and Singaporean representatives in Taiwan to discuss the matter in the hope that both countries could take Taiwan off their travel advisory lists.

The DOH yesterday also reported one more "probable case" of SARS, bringing the total to 15.

The patient reported is a 49-year-old businessman based in China who traveled from Beijing to Taipei via Seoul on March 28.

He was put in quarantine at the National Taiwan University Hospital upon his arrival in Taipei. His wife has also been quarantined at the hospital.

Lee said yesterday the man had developed symptoms of a cold in Beijing and received medical treatment at a local hospital which did not inform the patient that he had symptoms of pneumonia.

As of yesterday, Taiwan has reported 105 suspected SARS cases. No cases of transmission within Taiwan have been reported so far.

additional reporting by Monique Chu

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