Starting noon tomorrow, all outbound travelers must have their temperature taken before boarding the plane to curb the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced yesterday.
"To minimize the risk of out-bound travelers being denied access to foreign countries and the possibility of catching SARS on the plane, those who are traveling abroad should have their temperature taken before checking their luggage in and leaving the country," Yu said.
Yu made the remark yesterday morning on Ali Mountain, Chiayi County where he presided over a regular meeting of the Cabinet's committee for the promotion of the tourism industry.
According to Yu, since the health department requested in-bound travelers have their temperature taken and fill out a SARS survey form at the entrance gate on March 29, over 82,000 passengers have had their temperature taken. Forty-one of them showed abnormally high temperature, 38 of the 41 were later sent to the hospital.
On April 18, a China-based Taiwanese businessman was fined NT$60,000 for refusing to have his temperature taken at the CKS International Airport upon arrival from China.
He is the first person to face a SARS-related penalty since the disease first appeared here early last month.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the nation has seen a cumulative total of 192 reported SARS cases nationwide as of yesterday afternoon. While 28 of them were probable cases, 46 were suspected ones.
A total of 1,901 people have been put under domestic quarantine and, of those, 1,574 people have been lifted from the list.
The WHO recommends that all SARS cases should be put under domestic quarantine for seven days after they are discharged from hospitals because the cases might still continue to spread the disease after their recovery.
The CDC asked all probable SARS cases discharged from hospitals to stay under home quarantine for 14 days.
Meanwhile, Taiwan might see its first SARS death after a 72-year-old man from Kinmen died from myocardial infection and pulmonary failure at Taipei's Veterans General Hospital on Friday.
The hospital will perform an autopsy to determine whether the man's death had anything to do with SARS.
The government has been boasting of its zero death, zero export and zero community infection since the outbreak of the deadly disease.
The man, surnamed Lee (李), was admitted to Kinmen County Hospital on Wednesday, complaining of a chest pains. He was later transferred to the Veterans General Hospital.
Lee, who reportedly had never been to China, had long been suffering from such chronic problems as tuberculosis and heart disease.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique