One dies of SARS, one of worry

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).

"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 (邱淑媞) of Taipei City Bureau of Health responding to the suicide, said: "The survival rate of SARS is as high as 95 percent, so the public should not fear too much. They should have the courage to face SARS."

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 (馬英九) introduced Mark Simmerman, an expert from the US' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC).

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 (陳玫芬) from the hospital's IT department spoke from inside the hospital to the media.

"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."