A 48-year-old man, suspected of having severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) along with his entire family, hanged himself in the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital yesterday, while a 78-year-old man died of respiratory failure suspected to be caused by the SARS.
"We explained to the husband about his wife's condition yesterday, and told him that his wife would get the best treatment and medication possible, also that the survival rate is high," said Hospital Superintendent Wu Kang-wen (吳康文).
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"We also offered him counseling. The husband, however, seemed to be very depressed," Wu added. "Before he killed himself, he left a written statement saying that he simply couldn't make it, and he was sorry."
Director Chiu Shu-ti (
Both deaths happened yesterday afternoon, and were announced and confirmed after the setup of a videoconferencing system at 2pm.
The Taipei City Government originally planned to set up videoconference systems at the Taipei City Government building and the coordination center of the police radio station to communicate with Hoping Hospital.
The videoconference equipment was meant to allow family members of those quarantined in the Hoping Hospital to communicate with the detainees.
Deputy Taipei Mayor Ou Chin-der (歐晉德) said that the city government had also been providing counseling services since Thursday to the people inside the hospital.
Ou said the quarantine period would "basically be 14 days, depending on the situation. Of course the shorter the better if there is no cross-infection."
"If, however, the outbreak cannot be contained, we may need to prolong the confinement. But we will seek the medical experts' advice first," Ou said.
"Right now the most important thing is to control the situation inside the hospital. We need more professional backup, the best doctors from all over the island, to combat the disease," he said.
Yesterday morning Ou, together with Chiu and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Simmerman, together with three other local epidemiologists, went into the hospital after the press conference to help control cross-infection within the buildings.
Simmerman said, "we have a complicated problem here ... We have very good cooperation with the health authority here and we are confident about finding a solution."
There are two other USCDC officials in Taipei at the moment helping with the Hoping case.
Chiu said that the USCDC "is helping us to better control the environment in the hospital. [The officials] are giving us assistance in setting up a standard procedure to deal with the patients inside."
"Most medical staff are doing their best to care for the patients. Their efforts should be commended. Right now our most important mission is to minimize the number of infected cases."
Speaking using the videoconferencing system, Chen Mei-fen (
"Most people inside are fine. Our lives and meals remain regular. Only a very few people are not getting food by mistake. Misunderstandings about the situation inside since yesterday [Friday] have been mainly due to the lack of communication channels."
On Friday about 40 of those quarantined at the hospital angrily protested at their confinement and gave a highly negative picture of the living conditions they had to put up with, including a lack of food.
Chen said that some of her colleagues who had tried to escape from the hospital Friday felt regrets about their actions.
Chiu stressed that the authorities were trying to separate those among the quarantined infected with SARS from those who were not, but that this was time-consuming and could not be done with the resources available to the hospital alone.
"We do not have enough doctors who are familiar with SARS inside the hospital. We need to form a SARS treatment team, but this cannot be done by the Hoping Hospital or Taipei City Government single-handedly. We need support from the central government and international society," Ou said.
Also See Stories:
SARS epidemic: Disease doesn't scare diplomats
SARS epidemic: Legislator seeks Czech support for WHA effort
SARS epidemic: Lawmakers offer expert advice on prevention
SARS epidemic: New Zealand puts Taiwan on risk list
SARS epidemic: DOH denies rumor of disease fatalities
SARS epidemic: Chen plays waiting game with state of emergency
SARS epidemic: Pan-blues offer support for tougher SARS measures
SARS epidemic: Top prosecutor sent on mission to hospital
SARS epidemic: Taichung factory shuts after workers develop symptoms
Editorial: For hope, look to our heroes
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned